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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28830540">My Truth or Yours?</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brindlestorm/pseuds/Brindlestorm'>Brindlestorm</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Warriors - Erin Hunter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Focused on Tigerclaw, You don't know the whole story</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 13:01:06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>22,206</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28830540</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brindlestorm/pseuds/Brindlestorm</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>You've only heard the story in passing, and you haven't even heard every side of it. What if Redtail was a traitor? What if he wasn't? No one really knows what's going on and when you don't communicate with others... False assumptions can be made.</p><p> AU of the events leading up to Redtail's death, noncompliant with the events of Redtail's Debt but does use elements of that story.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter One</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Tigerclaw was no fool, he knew that some of his clanmates didn’t agree with his methods. There were times he may have been too quick to unsheath his claws or snarl a taunt when his patrol ran into the neighboring clans’ border patrol. But he will swear to the stars that he does it only to protect his clan.</p>
<p>That doesn’t mean he isn’t trying to be better, peace is better than bloodshed after all. Tigerclaw never realized just how extreme Thistleclaw’s mentoring was until Darkstripe became a warrior. Having mentored Darkstripe the same way Thistleclaw had mentored him, he hadn’t quite understood just how bad it was until he saw how Darkstripe would treat his clanmates and then immediately turn to Tigerclaw expecting praise or support. No doubt Darkstripe learned that from himself, which meant that <em>he</em> had learned it from Thistleclaw.</p>
<p>When Bluestar gave him Ravenpaw, she told him privately that she hoped Tigerclaw could shape the easily frightened kit into a more confident warrior by the end of his apprenticeship. Despite what Bluestar asked of him, Tigerclaw knew that he’d be walking a thin line with this one, he wanted to bring out the best in his new apprentice, but he couldn’t do to Ravenpaw what he had done with Darkstripe. Not just because he wanted Ravenpaw to become a <em>respectable</em> warrior, but if he was too aggressive, Ravenpaw would only retreat further into himself. Yes, Ravenpaw would require careful attention, they’d have to work at his pace but Tigerclaw would push him to keep trying things just beyond his comfort level.</p>
<p>It took about four moons, but Tigerclaw had finally managed to form a good mentor-apprentice relationship with Ravenpaw and coaxed him out of his shell somewhat. He was still a little skittish and would occasionally flinch during battle training, but they could share a few good-natured jokes between them.</p>
<p>The only issue was that now that Ravenpaw was more relaxed, he also got distracted more often. Several times now, Tigerclaw had caught Ravenpaw spacing out, watching birds in the sky or nosing around plants, but not in search of prey.</p>
<p>Tigerclaw stalked over to where Ravenpaw was, he was supposed to be tracking the rabbit he scented earlier, but instead, he was sniffing curiously around a patch of yellow flowers.</p>
<p>“Ravenpaw, how do you expect to feed the clan with a bunch of leaves?” Tigerclaw growled lowly, “The trail will go stale by the time you get your head out of the clouds!”</p>
<p>Ravenpaw jumped. “S-sorry Tigerclaw! I just noticed that there’s a patch of goldenrod and maybe Spottedleaf could use some for her stores...” Ravenpaw hung his head in shame, “I’m sorry Tigerclaw, I’ll do better.”</p>
<p>Tigerclaw sighed and beckoned his apprentice closer, “I’m not upset Ravenpaw, but you need to focus on your training, you want to be a warrior with your brother, don’t you?”</p>
<p>It didn’t go unnoticed by Tigerclaw when Ravenpaw hesitated before nodding earnestly. “Ravenpaw... You do want to be a warrior, right? Are you interested in plants because...?”</p>
<p>Another thing he probably learned from Thistleclaw, though many warriors seem to share this sentiment. What was so interesting about plants and berries? Sure it's important, medicine cats are the most respected cats in a clan next to the leader, but how could life in a stuffy den filled with plants be appealing when they could be patrolling borders and providing for their clan?</p>
<p>Ravenpaw’s stuttered mew broke him out of his thoughts.</p>
<p>“Well, I don’t really know? I do enjoy hunting and learning battle moves with you, I just... also like learning about medicine? Sometimes I like to stop by Spottedleaf’s den when she has patients to see what she’s doing, but I swear it's nothing more than that! I’ll keep training with you, I promise! I’ll-”</p>
<p>Tigerclaw gently placed his paw on Ravenpaw’s head to get him to stop talking, he was clearly about to spiral into an anxiety attack and Tigerclaw didn’t want to deal with that again, not after all the progress they made to stop them.</p>
<p>“Ravenpaw, there is no shame in wanting to be a medicine cat. Though I do ask you to consider this carefully, the role of a medicine cat is a great honor, but it also requires personal sacrifice and it will take you a lot longer to earn your full name.”</p>
<p>Ravenpaw let out a breath, relieved that Tigerclaw wasn’t angry with him.</p>
<p>“That being said, focus on your warrior training for now, it won’t be long until it's time for your trip to the Moonstone. Perhaps while you’re there you can ask Starclan if you’re calling is to be a medicine cat instead, I’m sure it won’t be the first time an apprentice made such a realization and had to switch.”</p>
<p>“Yes Tigerclaw, I... That sounds good, should I mention this to Spottedleaf or...?” Ravenpaw asked hesitantly.</p>
<p>Tigerclaw shrugged, “If you want, but for now let’s go catch that rabbit, hmm? Can you tell me where it went?”</p>
<p>Ravenpaw jumped to his paws eagerly, scattering leaves and loose rocks with his excitement, though he quickly shrunk into a stalking position when Tigerclaw glared at him good-naturedly for alerting the nearby prey.</p>
<p>
  <em>Great Starclan, if this apprentice made any more noise, he’ll end up chasing the rabbit straight into the paws of a moor-runner!</em>
</p>
<p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br/>Somehow, they managed to catch up to the rabbit near the Shadowclan border, now Ravenpaw was slowly creeping up on it. It was a large one, clearly alert for predators as its ears were twitching constantly. Tigerclaw made sure to remind Ravenpaw that he’d need to be <em>silent</em> if he wanted to catch it. Hopefully, he would, it could feed all the elders and then some if they were lucky enough to catch it.</p>
<p>Ravenpaw got about a fox length away, in prime position to leap and catch the rabbit, but he flinched as a monster came barreling down the thunderpath not too far away. The rabbit remained unstartled, used to the sound of monsters it seemed.</p>
<p>Ravenpaw glanced at Tigerclaw, hoping for a nod or a signal that it would still be alright to try and catch it after the disturbance. Just before Ravenpaw could pounce though, a familiar tortoiseshell lunged at the rabbit, killing it with a neat bite to the back of its neck.</p>
<p>Tigerclaw slunk over to his apprentice, “Bad luck, it’s not your fault though, you couldn’t have known Redtail would be there.” He murmured in his apprentice's ear.</p>
<p>The pair watched silently as Redtail started dragging the rabbit towards a bush, <em>probably where he had left his other catches,</em> Tigerclaw mused.</p>
<p>“Should we offer to help him carry his prey?” Ravenpaw whispered to his mentor.</p>
<p>Tigerclaw thought for a moment, it would certainly be a kind gesture considering the deputy had caught <em>his</em> apprentice’s prey that he tracked from Snake Rocks, but on the other paw...</p>
<p>“I have a better idea Ravenpaw, how quietly do you think you can climb that tree over there? I think it’s about time you learned how to follow an enemy from above.”</p>
<p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p>
<p>The two snuck away as quietly as they could, and despite Tigerclaw’s lumbering form and Ravenpaw’s tendency to step on twigs, they managed to retreat far enough to scramble up their trees without being noticed.</p>
<p>From their perches high above, they watched curiously as Redtail pulled three more large rabbits out from under the bush, dragging them one at a time closer to the Thunderpath.</p>
<p>“What do you think he’s doing?” Ravenpaw whispered.</p>
<p>Tigerclaw’s eyes narrowed but didn't answer, what <em>was</em> their deputy doing?</p>
<p>Redtail paused at the edge of the Thunderpath, glancing around before darting under the bush he had pulled the rabbits out from. The mentor and apprentice stayed still as they waited for Redtail to come out and retrieve the rabbits.</p>
<p>The sun had climbed steadily into the sky and there was still no sign of Redtail returning for the rabbits.</p>
<p>“Maybe he went hunting for more prey?” Ravenpaw suggested as Tigerclaw got up to stretch.</p>
<p>“Perhaps,” Tigerclaw mused. “Head on back to camp, Ravenpaw. Catch something for the queens on your way, I’m sure Frostfur would appreciate something fresh if the hunting patrols aren’t already back.”</p>
<p>Ravenpaw’s ear twitched curiously. “I thought we were going to wait for Redtail? Didn’t you want me to practice my-”</p>
<p>“Training is over for the day, you’ll get your chance to surprise Redtail another time, I promise,” Tigerclaw said firmly. </p>
<p>“Oh well, are you going to wait for him then? That’s a lot of rabbits, should I grab one to help out or...?”</p>
<p>“Just get going Ravenpaw. Redtail and I will handle it.”</p>
<p>Ravenpaw, sensing that Tigerclaw was close to losing his patience, turned tail and darted down the tree, quickly disappearing into the undergrowth.</p>
<p>Tigerclaw settled back onto his tree branch, he had no intention of leaving until he knew exactly why Redtail would leave so much prey in plain view of the Thunderpath.</p>
<p>____________________________________________________________________________</p>
<p>Ravenpaw was cleaning his whiskers after catching his shrew, it was small but he had already caught a mouse and a vole. Peering through the trees, he noted that it was almost sundown. He found enough to hopefully satisfy Tigerclaw, he could probably return to camp now but he was it might not be enough, not after losing the rabbit he and Tigerclaw followed to the Thunderpath.</p>
<p>Ravenpaw thought for a moment, if he buried his last catch now, he could get back to the Thunderpath and surprise both him <em>and</em> Redtail! If he could pull it off, surely Tigerclaw would be proud of him then!</p>
<p>Quickly jumping to his paws, Ravenpaw hurriedly scraped a shallow hole in the earth to drop his shrew into. Then he rushed up the trunk of the nearest tree and made the quiet journey back to the thunderpath from above ground.<br/>-----------------------------------------------------------------------------</p>
<p>Tigerclaw was dozing on his branch, starting to think Redtail might just be hare-brained and wasn’t worth waiting for when the bushes started rustling on the other side of the Thunderpath, revealing a Shadowclan patrol.</p>
<p>Blackfoot nimbly crossed the thunderpath, the others following quickly with ease. “So Redtail, I see you found Shadowclan some rabbits. Good job, we’ll take them from here.”</p>
<p>Tigerclaw bristled and prepared to leap down on top of the Shadowclan deputy. <em>How dare he try and openly steal Thunderclan prey! From our deputy no less, I’ll show him!</em></p>
<p>“Just take it and go. The less time you spend stinking up our territory the better.” Redtail growled back, not moving to step away from the prey but not moving to defend it either.</p>
<p>Tigerclaw watched through narrow eyes as each of the Shadowclan intruders stepped forward to take a rabbit, Clawface paused and instead turned to Redtail.</p>
<p>Slowly and deliberately, Clawface bent his head down and rubbed it against Redtail’s cheek, taking his time as if he was greeting an old friend.</p>
<p>Redtail closed his eyes and breathed deeply, and then, in turn, he bumped his head against Clawface’s chest for a moment, hardly enough to touch, but very clearly meant to show affection.</p>
<p>Clawface swooped down and picked up the rabbit. “It's been good seeing you again, Redtail. May Starclan light your path.”</p>
<p>"And yours as well," Redtail mewed, "you all best be on your way now before the dusk patrol arrives. I'll deal with the scents you left behind."</p>
<p>Nodding to his fellow deputy, Blackfoot flicked his tail and darted back across with his rabbit, the others following close behind. Redtail wasted no time, grimacing as he pushed around a load of fox dung he had collected before the Shadowclan warriors had arrived, effectively hiding their scent. Tigerclaw wouldn’t be surprised if the dusk patrol came back reporting fox scent at the Shadowclan border that night with how much Redtail spread about.</p>
<p>Having seen enough, Tigerclaw nimbly hopped along the branches a few tree-lengths. <em>How am I supposed to tell Bluestar any of this? Should I confront Redtail first?</em></p>
<p>Climbing down the tree, Tigerclaw was wrapped up in his thoughts, not realizing where he was until he came across the Great Sycamore tree, where Ravenpaw was waiting for him, tail twitching nervously as he tried to keep his small prey pile stacked neatly.</p>
<p>“Well done, Ravenpaw. I didn’t expect to find you still hunting, this will be enough for the queens and elders combined!” Tigerclaw rumbled approvingly.</p>
<p>Ravenpaw looked ready to jump out of his fur when Tigerclaw spoke, what had spooked him? Tigerclaw was sure Ravenpaw had heard him approaching, he certainly wasn’t trying to be quiet as he walked.</p>
<p>“O-oh! Thanks, Tigerclaw...” Ravenpaw trailed off, he looked like he wanted to say something else but his jaw stayed firmly shut.</p>
<p>Tigerclaw sighed and picked up a few pieces of the prey his apprentice caught, the pair walked back to camp at an agonizingly slow pace. Tigerclaw was just about ready to drop the prey altogether and interrogate his apprentice when Ravenpaw spoke.</p>
<p>“Tigerclaw, is there somewhere quiet we can talk? I... I have something I need to tell you.”</p>
<p>Tigerclaw flicked his tail and swerved to the left, carefully sniffing around the base of a tree before heading down into the abandoned den beneath the roots.</p>
<p>Ravenpaw followed and set down the prey, staring nervously at his paws.</p>
<p>“Well? Spit it out Ravenpaw, we don’t have all day.” Tigerclaw said gruffly.</p>
<p>“Well, I... I’m sorry Tigerclaw.” Ravenpaw mewed quietly, “I know you told me to hunt for the queens on my way back but I really wanted to surprise you with my tree stalking.”</p>
<p>Tigerclaw’s eyes narrowed, “Ravenpaw, what are you getting at?”</p>
<p>“I went back to the Shadowclan border,” Ravenpaw confessed. “I thought maybe I’d be able to catch you <em>and</em> Redtail by surprise, I wanted to impress you, and well...”</p>
<p>“I saw Redtail talking to those Shadowclan cats, they looked... Very friendly with each other.”</p>
<p>Tigerclaw inhaled sharply, “Ravenpaw, you disobeyed direct orders! Not only that, but we also don’t even know what Redtail was doing, what we know could be very dangerous.”</p>
<p>“Am I in trouble again?” Ravenpaw mewed.</p>
<p>“..... No.” Tigerclaw said, “I can’t go to Bluestar with what we saw until we have more information, even if you were there with me, it's us against the clan deputy. She’d never believe us.”</p>
<p>Ravenpaw deflated a little, unsure if he should be glad that he wasn’t going to be punished or troubled by the fact that they can’t go to Bluestar about Redtail’s actions.</p>
<p>“For all we know, Redtail is acting under Bluestar’s orders to appease Shadowclan without spilling blood.” Tigerclaw continued, pacing around the den now, agitatedly flicking his tail as he tried to reason more with himself than his apprentice as to why Redtail would be working with the enemy.</p>
<p>“For now, you are not to say a word about this to <em>anyone,</em> do you understand me?” Tigerclaw said, whirling around on his apprentice.</p>
<p>Ravenpaw nodded mutely, pressing himself against the wall of the dens in fear.</p>
<p>“I need you to promise me Ravenpaw, you can’t tell anyone, not even Dustpaw. <em>Especially</em> not Dustpaw, okay? Can you do that?”</p>
<p>“I’ll keep it a secret Tigerclaw, I swear.”</p>
<p>“Good,” Tigerclaw said, stepping back. “Good, now let's get this back to camp, you go straight to your nest, alright?”</p>
<p>Ravenpaw nodded once more, snatching up his prey, and clambered out of the den and back into the forest. The two walked back to camp at a slow pace, neither one daring to try to talk again.</p>
<p>----------------------------------------------------------------------------</p>
<p>Doing as he was told, Ravenpaw deposited his prey on the pile and went to his den, carrying a small mouse with him to eat before he went to sleep.</p>
<p>Tigerclaw set down his prey as well, about to ask the queens if they were hungry when the hairs on his pelt began to raise when he saw Redtail approaching him.</p>
<p>“Tigerclaw! There you are, the dusk patrol just made their report. Fox scents have been found by the Shadowclan border, I don’t want any of the apprentices training near there until they’ve learned a few moves to take on a fox, understand?”</p>
<p>“Ah, uh yes Redtail. I’ll be on the lookout. How fresh was the scent? I didn’t smell anything there when I was with Ravenpaw earlier.”</p>
<p>Redtail eyed him suspiciously, “Fresh enough, stick to the Tallpines for now, Thunderclan can’t afford to lose any apprentices right now.”</p>
<p>“As you wish, now if you’ll excuse me I’m rather tired. I think I’ll retire early tonight.” Tigerclaw replied, paws itching to get away from the deputy. </p>
<p><em>How strange,</em> he mused. <em>Just yesterday I would have laughed at him telling me to be careful and now I can barely stand to look at him.</em></p>
<p>Redtail nodded, “Dismissed, get some rest Tigerclaw. I’ll see you and Ravenpaw on the dawn patrol in the morning, we’ll be taking the Twolegplace border.”</p>
<p>Tigerclaw just flicked his ear in response and hurried to the warriors’ den. Could Redtail be suspicious of him already? Perhaps he shouldn’t have mentioned he was in the area.</p>
<p>Whatever the case was, Tigerclaw would be keeping a close eye on the young deputy. Something had to be done about him, should he prove to be a traitor.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter Two</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It hadn’t stopped.</p>
<p>For two moons, every border patrol was on high alert for the ‘fox’ that was scented at the Shadowclan border, but Tigerclaw knew that the only fox hanging around there was none other than their own deputy. When each patrol came back empty-pawed and more confused than ever, suddenly the scent became that of a <em>badger’s.</em></p>
<p>How convenient, when Tigerclaw had just chased off a badger from its den in the direction of <em>Riverclan,</em> that one should show up at the Shadowclan border.</p>
<p>And speaking of Shadowclan, troubling news had occurred at the last gathering. Every clan knew of Brokentail, Raggedstar’s only son, and how proud the leader was of the bloodthirsty creature he had named deputy. Shadowclan and Windclan had been at each other’s throats for almost five moons over supposed prey-stealing, and at the last gathering, Broken<em>star</em> had accused Windclan of cowardly attacking and killing Raggedstar when he was on a lone border patrol.</p>
<p>The way Redtail had flinched at the news told Tigerclaw all he needed to know.</p>
<p>At this point, Tigerclaw wasn’t sure whether or not to do more paired sessions with Redtail to keep an eye on him or to keep Ravenpaw as far away from the Thunderclan deputy as possible. The sessions they did have together went seemingly well so long as Tigerclaw was the one coaching Ravenpaw. The poor apprentice jumped more when Redtail talked than himself now, Tigerclaw couldn’t blame him though, not after what they both witnessed.</p>
<p>It was mostly at night now that he caught Redtail sneaking out of camp to meet with the Shadowclan warriors. He always came back smelling strongly of ferns, but now that Tigerclaw knew what to look for, there was always a lingering scent of pines and marshes on the deputy’s pelt.</p>
<p>Tigerclaw had just returned from a hunting patrol with Mousefur and Runningwind when he was summoned to Bluestar’s den.</p>
<p>“Tigerclaw, a word? I need to speak with you and Redtail.”</p>
<p>Tigerclaw felt his hackles began to rise, <em>Had Bluestar began to notice the growing animosity he had for the deputy? What did she want to talk to them about?</em></p>
<p>“It's about your apprentices, I’d like to hear about their progress.” Bluestar continued, paying no mind to Tigerclaw’s unease.</p>
<p>“Of course, Bluestar. Shall I fetch us some prey to share while we speak? Runningwind managed to catch a rabbit on our patrol, that should be enough for the three of us.” Tigerclaw replied smoothly, forcing his fur flat again before Bluestar could notice it.</p>
<p>“A rabbit would be good, thank you Tigerclaw. Grab the rabbit and then come to my den.” Bluestar said, flicking her tail as she headed back to her den where Redtail was waiting for them.</p>
<p>Tigerclaw snatched the rabbit just as Runningwind let it fall from his jaws onto the freshkill pile, leaving a rather confused pair of siblings to watch as he trekked his way up to Bluestar’s den.</p>
<p>The three cats settled down, taking turns eating the prey before Bluestar finally asked about their apprentices.</p>
<p>“Dustpaw is turning into a fierce fighter, he was able to catch me off guard not too long ago, I think he’s getting impatient with the rate I’m teaching him new moves at.” Redtail reported confidently.</p>
<p>“I’m still working with Ravenpaw on his confidence, it's been a little slow going but he’s stopped flinching during battle training. I had intended to test his stealth and tracking two moons ago but I ended up sending him hunting for the queens. Not only did he do that, but he followed me from above from sunset to nightfall. He told me exactly what I had done from the moment he found me to when he got back to where he had buried his prey.”</p>
<p><em>Not entirely a lie,</em> Ravenpaw was certainly silent when he returned to the Shadowclan border to surprise his mentor. Had it not been for what they caught Redtail doing, Tigerclaw would have been sufficiently impressed by the timid apprentice’s stealth.</p>
<p>Bluestar nodded, “Sounds like Ravenpaw is shaping up to be a good hunter, and how is Dustpaw coming along in that aspect? </p>
<p>“Dustpaw has been... growing rather quickly,” Redtail said slowly, as if he was unsure how to word it properly. “I think he’s become frustrated with hunting these days, he only wants to focus on his battle techniques. It's been a challenge, though I can’t blame him. It's like every time he adjusts to his paws something else gets bigger. I swear, that tom is growing one leg at a time!”</p>
<p>Bluestar purred in amusement, “Well, it's still a little early to test them on their battle training, but I believe it's about time they had a hunting assessment!”</p>
<p>Tigerclaw nodded, “With all those predators our patrols have been scenting, shall we take them to hunt near the Great Sycamore or the Owl Tree?”</p>
<p>Bluestar shook her head, “No, <em>Redtail</em> can assess them by the Owl Tree tomorrow morning. You and I are taking a patrol, I think Longtail and Runningwind should come as well. We need to check Snakerocks to make sure the rocks blocking the adder-holes haven’t been shifted.”</p>
<p>Tigerclaw bristled slightly, “Shouldn’t I be there to assess my apprentice?”</p>
<p>“I’m sure Redtail can handle those two. I <em>need</em> you on this patrol Tigerclaw, Longtail and Runningwind may be fast enough to catch the adders, but I'll need your help to shift the rocks with me. Are you up for it?”</p>
<p>Tigerclaw took a breath, yes, Redtail may be a problem, possibly a traitor. But surely he could trust the deputy for a day, his leader was asking him to make sure that Snakerocks would be safe for hunting, an important task with Leafbare creeping up in a moon.</p>
<p>He dipped his head, “Of course I’ll come Bluestar, you can count on me.”</p>
<p>“Good, you can both go and inform your apprentices. Tigerclaw, we’ll wait until after you’ve seen off Ravenpaw before we head to Snakerocks, alright?”</p>
<p>“Yes, thank you Bluestar, I'd like to tell Ravenpaw now if I can, I'd imagine he'll want to fit in some hunting practice before sundown and I ought to be there with him."</p>
<p>Bluestar purred, "At least he's a dedicated one! Redtail, perhaps you should do the same with Dustpaw if your concerns are anything to go by."</p>
<p>Tigerclaw opted to leave first, not pausing to see if Bluestar had anything else to say to him or Redtail. He hurried to the apprentices' den, nosing his way through the small entrance. Instead, it was Sandpaw who greeted him from where she was resting next to Dustpaw.</p>
<p>“Looking for Ravenpaw?” She rasped, Tigerclaw took a second to pity the molly.</p>
<p>Not even a moon ago yet, Sandpaw had been out training with her mentor when they had a surprise run-in with a fox cub. Whitestorm had tried to order her back to camp but she refused to listen, they were able to drive it off easily enough, but the fox bite Sandpaw had received became infected, only now was she recovered enough to help entertain kits while she was still being confined to the camp.</p>
<p>Continuing on as if she hadn’t expected him to answer anyway, “You just missed him, he went to Spottedleaf’s den, said something about getting me coltsfoot because I was coughing in my sleep last night. If you ask me, he ought to just move his nest in there with how often he spends running back and forth!”</p>
<p>“Thank you, Sandpaw. I’ll go see if Spottedleaf can <em>bear</em> parting with my apprentice. I want to make sure he’s ready for his hunting assessment tomorrow morning.”</p>
<p>Sandpaw’s ears flattened when she heard that and glared down at her leg. </p>
<p>“I’m sure you’ll get your assessment soon Sandpaw, as soon as your leg has healed I’ll go to Bluestar myself. It won’t take long for you to catch up to your denmates.” Tigerclaw added, kindly.</p>
<p>Sandpaw just sighed and rested her chin on her paws, stifling a cough as Tigerclaw left the den. It only got worse as he left, Tigerclaw didn’t know if coltsfoot would help her, but he hoped to Starclan it would, Thunderclan couldn’t afford to lose any apprentices this season.</p>
<p>Redtail flicked his tail in greeting as he brushed past him into the apprentices' den to collect Dustpaw, Tigerclaw felt his heart clench again at the thought of leaving either apprentice alone with the deputy. Oh how he wished he could stay for the assessment, but the danger of Snakerocks was more important than Redtail at the moment. At the very least, whatever plans Redtail had wouldn’t be able to include the adders, it would be too suspicious to move them so soon after the rocks were checked by the leader herself.</p>
<p>Tigerclaw ducked down low to enter the medicine den, immediately picking up on the conversation between the pair.</p>
<p>“-that could work, but why not just give her tansy then?”</p>
<p>“Because tansy should only be eaten in small doses,” Ravenpaw replied confidently. “Coltsfoot would be better because she can chew on the stalks throughout the night if her coughing wakes her up.”</p>
<p>“You pick things up quickly!” Spottedleaf purred with amusement. “Take her the three stalks of coltsfoot and a few juniper berries. She can have two berries now with one stalk of coltsfoot, the last berry should be saved for when she wakes up tomorrow.”</p>
<p>“Putting my apprentice to work, are you Spottedleaf?” Tigerclaw grumbled good-naturedly as he entered the den.</p>
<p>“Only because he wants to be!” Spottedleaf replied cheekily. “What can I do for you, Tigerclaw?”</p>
<p>“I’m here to collect Ravenpaw, but I’ll let him see to Sandpaw first seeing as he already came all the way here to do it.”</p>
<p>Ravenpaw nodded hurriedly and rushed out of the den with the herbs wrapped carefully in a leaf.</p>
<p>“He visits me a lot you know, pretty interested in herbs.” Spottedleaf began, turning to sort the already neatly stacked pile of herbs in her stores. “Has he ever mentioned it to you?”</p>
<p>“He didn’t have to, I’ve seen it for myself enough times.” Tigerclaw replied flatly, “Every time we try to go hunting or patrolling, he’s always sniffing around your herb patches or lagging behind to watch the clouds cover the sun.”</p>
<p>Spottedleaf flinched slightly, “Well, it's nice to have an apprentice interested in herbs, I’m not trying to take him from you Tigerclaw, I was just making  conversation.”</p>
<p>The slight hitch in her voice told Tigerclaw that she was worried she may have overstepped, so he did the only thing he knew how to do in situations like this.</p>
<p>Tigerclaw placed his massive paw gently on Spottedleaf’s face, effectively silencing whatever else she was going to say.</p>
<p>“Ravenpaw and I have already talked about it. His trip to the moonstone will be coming up soon, when he shares dreams with Starclan, his path will be revealed to him then. But until that day comes, I will continue to train him as a warrior. I won’t stand in his way, but I won’t let him slack off on his battle training either. No offense to you, of course, Spottedleaf, but I want him to be able to hold his own in a fight no matter what he ends up as.”</p>
<p>Spottedleaf playfully batted Tigerclaw’s paw off of her face, “Excuse you, but I can hold my own in a fight, thank you very much! Thrushpelt taught me more than just hunting!”</p>
<p>“In that case, perhaps you’d like to sit in during a training session? Not that you have anything to prove, I’d just like to see you in action for myself.”</p>
<p>Just before Spottedleaf could make a retort, Ravenpaw made a reappearance.</p>
<p>“Tigerclaw? You said you needed me for something?”</p>
<p>“Ah yes, we’re going to do some training. I’ll tell you about it as we walk.”<br/>Tigerclaw left the den with Ravenpaw trotting along at his heels, and untrue to his word, Tigerclaw didn’t speak a word the entire walk until he found the abandoned den he talked to Ravenpaw in a few moons ago.</p>
<p>“Tigerclaw? What’s going on-?” </p>
<p>“Quiet!” Tigerclaw hissed as he shoved Ravenpaw down the hole, with a squeak, Ravenpaw tumbled in.</p>
<p>He scrambled to his paws, spitting out dirt and glared at his mentor. “Hey! What was that for?”</p>
<p>“You and Dustpaw have a hunting assessment tomorrow morning at dawn,” Tigerclaw told him.</p>
<p>Ravenpaw’s ears pricked up, “Really? Wow, it's so soon! You really think we’re ready?”</p>
<p>But then his brow furrowed. “But what does that have to do with you pushing me down a hole?”</p>
<p>“I won’t be there to assess you. Bluestar wants me to go with her to Snakerocks to make sure the adder-holes are still blocked.”</p>
<p>Ravenpaw looked confused still, but Tigerclaw just sat back and waited for it to sink in for his apprentice. </p>
<p>“....... No.”</p>
<p>“No, what?” Tigerclaw rumbled.</p>
<p>“No, I... I’ll refuse to take the assessment! I’ll... I’ll tell Spottedleaf I’m sick so that she’ll keep me in camp! A... a bad piece of prey or something!” </p>
<p>Ravenpaw was shaking now, eyes darting around. “Tigerclaw please don’t make me do this! I don’t want to be anywhere near him, I can barely keep quiet even with you there, I just... <em>I can’t!</em>”</p>
<p>Tigerclaw moved to sit next to Ravenpaw, placing his chin on the apprentice’s head to offer comfort. </p>
<p>“I know Ravenpaw, I don’t want you to be near him either, but there’s nothing we can do about this. Besides, who’ll protect Dustpaw if you aren’t there?”</p>
<p>Ravenpaw shuffled his paws dejectedly, “Dustpaw has always been the better fighter, he doesn’t need me.”</p>
<p>“He doesn’t know about Redtail though, and we can’t tell him because it would put him into more danger. He <em>needs</em> you Ravenpaw, he just doesn’t know it.”</p>
<p>Ravenpaw flicked his tail thoughtfully, “I... I could keep an eye on Redtail for you? Where’s the assessment supposed to be? Maybe I could stray near the border, see what happens?”</p>
<p>“You will do no such thing!” Tigerclaw thundered, jumping to his feet to glare down at the apprentice. “Don’t do <em>anything</em> that could put yourself in danger, do you hear me? I... I can’t lose you Ravenpaw, as your mentor I’m supposed to keep you safe, but when I can’t I expect you not to do anything stupid!”</p>
<p>His apprentice nodded mutely, gaze downcast. Tigerclaw sighed and rested his chin back on Ravenpaw’s head.</p>
<p>“Your assessment will be by the Owl Tree, promise me you’ll stay safe?”</p>
<p>“I promise.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ravenpaw didn’t get any sleep that night, not even his sore muscles from training could convince him to close his eyes for some rest. He just watched as his brother slept on his side of the den with Sandpaw.</p>
<p>Tigerclaw had drilled him until sundown, not on hunting, but the best to avoid being followed or throw a cat off his scent. Ravenpaw did get his chance that night to show off his tree stalking skills. Despite the danger, Ravenpaw couldn’t help but be a little smug about the look on his mentor’s face when he dropped down on top of him.</p>
<p>Both mentor and apprentice returned to camp satisfied with their progress, and Ravenpaw swore to himself he would do whatever it took to keep his brother safe. Dustpaw didn’t talk to him as much as littermates usually did, Ravenpaw often wondered why. It wasn’t that his brother avoided him, he just didn’t... talk to him.</p>
<p>Maybe Dustpaw still saw him as the weak, sickly kit everyone had to dote on just so he could live to see his apprentice ceremony, or maybe Dustpaw wished his mentor was Tigerclaw instead of Redtail.</p>
<p>Five moons ago, Ravenpaw would have happily swapped mentors with his brother when he saw how kindly Redtail treated his brother.</p>
<p>But now.....</p>
<p>He would still trade mentors if it were possible, <em>anything</em> to keep his brother away from their traitorous deputy.</p>
<p>At least he and Tigerclaw had the upper paw in all this. Redtail still didn’t know that the mentor and apprentice were onto him, and as long as Redtail didn’t know then they were safe.</p>
<p>But how long could they allow this to continue? For every meeting Redtail had with the Shadowclan cats, he would do something heroic for the clan. Be it fighting off the mother fox of the cub that hurt Sandpaw by himself, to staying out all night to restock half of the prey pile during Leaf-fall to feed the elders and queens in the morning. </p>
<p>There was no way to cast the deputy into doubt at this point, which left Ravenpaw and Tigerclaw to helplessly watch as Redtail betrayed their clan in secret.</p>
<p>Ravenpaw tiredly got to his paws. He could hear Redtail giving orders to the dawn patrol, may as well wake up his brother so they have time to wash before leaving.</p>
<p>Ravenpaw prodded at his brother, who was snoring so loud he was amazed that Sandpaw could stand it. Dustpaw snorted and rolled over, sleepily kicking at his brother. </p>
<p>When the next few tries were met with the same reaction, Ravenpaw instead decided to wake up Sandpaw instead. Her coughing had gone down some during the night, it wouldn’t hurt to wake her up to remind her to eat the rest of her herbs.</p>
<p>It also came with the added bonus of not accidentally waking her up while waking up Dustpaw, she’d have his pelt if she was woken up rudely for no reason.</p>
<p>Sandpaw had always been an early riser, which made Ravenpaw’s job much easier.</p>
<p>Gently, Ravenpaw poked his denmate’s shoulder, jostling her awake as subtly as possible. “Sandpaw? You need to wake up and eat some more coltsfoot and juniper berries, remember? Spottedleaf told me to wake you up at dawn to remind you.”</p>
<p>Sandpaw blearily opened her eyes and blinked up at him, for a moment Ravenpaw thought she was going to snark at him, but instead she just sighed and pulled the stalk and berry closer.</p>
<p>As she munched on the coltsfoot, Sandpaw eyed Ravenpaw. “Shouldn’t you be leaving for your assessment?”</p>
<p>“I will be, as soon as I wake up that sleepy slug over there.” Ravenpaw snorted, flicking his tail towards his brother, who was now sleeping on his back with his tongue hanging out slightly.</p>
<p>Sandpaw stifled a laugh, “Want me to wake him up? I could screech in his ear for you.” she offered.</p>
<p>“Thank you, but I can get him up myself. Mind standing back? I think Dustpaw ought to learn how it feels to be woken up the way he would wake me up when we were kits.”</p>
<p>Sandpaw purred as she stood up to give Ravenpaw more room, Ravenpaw backed up a bit, then took a flying leap at his brother, pushing him out of his nest and all the way through the entrance of the apprentice’s den.</p>
<p>That... wasn’t what he had meant to do, but at least Dustpaw was awake now!</p>
<p>In the clearing, Ravenpaw could hear laughter from the warriors about to leave on patrol, as well as his brother hissing and spitting while struggling to get the dirt out from his pelt, still disoriented from being woken up.</p>
<p>“Who did that?!” He heard Dustpaw shriek.</p>
<p>Ravenpaw looked to Sandpaw nervously, hoping she would at least offer to face Dustpaw’s wrath with him.</p>
<p>“Nope, not today.” Sandpaw snickered, curling back up in her nest. “I’ve had my herbs, watched you make the biggest mistake of your life, I think I’ll go back to sleep now! Good luck on your assessment, Ravenpaw. Hope you make it out alive, Dustpaw’s going to be on your tail <em>all day.</em>”</p>
<p>Ravenpaw sighed and squared his shoulders, taking a deep breath before he stepped out of the den, immediately the clearing fell silent.</p>
<p>Dustpaw turned to glare at him, “Why. <em>In Starclan’s name.</em> Did you do that?!”</p>
<p>Ravenpaw licked his paw innocently. “We have an assessment this morning, remember?”</p>
<p>“Then next time, wake me up the way any other <em>normal</em> cat would!” Dustpaw hissed crossly.</p>
<p>“I <em>tried</em> though,” Ravenpaw protested. “You almost kicked me halfway out the den in your sleep!”</p>
<p>“Not my fault you can’t stand your ground against a sleeping enemy.” </p>
<p>“The only dangerous thing about you was your snoring, you’ve probably scared away all the prey in the forest in your sleep alone! And if you don’t believe me, feel free to ask Sandpaw how bad it was. You were sleeping next to her after all.” Ravenpaw teased.</p>
<p>Dustpaw spluttered, and Ravenpaw honestly wasn’t sure what Dustpaw was more upset about, how he woke his brother up or teasing him about his closeness with the injured molly.</p>
<p>Fortunately for Ravenpaw, Bluestar and their mentors padded over.</p>
<p>“Ravenpaw, did you attack Dustpaw?” His leader asked.</p>
<p>Ravenpaw flattened his ears and looked away, “I didn’t mean to push him out of the den, I figured I’d just jump on him the way he used to do to me in the nursery!”</p>
<p>Bluestar just stared at him passively, waiting patiently for him to continue.</p>
<p>“I swear! Besides, he always beats me in battle training, I didn’t think I’d even be able to push him out of his nest! I just wanted to wake him up... And he <em>was</em> sleeping pretty soundly, nothing else I was doing would wake him up.”</p>
<p>Redtail took the chance to speak up, “Normally Ravenpaw, I would ask you to leave waking my apprentice up to me for an assessment, but Dustpaw... You <em>should</em> have been up by dawn, Tigerclaw and Ravenpaw stayed out later than we did for training and Ravenpaw woke up just fine on his own. What’s your excuse?”</p>
<p>Dustpaw gaped at his mentor, his brother <em>attacked him,</em> and <em>he</em> was the one getting in trouble? “I.... well, I was up with Sandpaw! I heard her coughing so I stayed up in case she needed something!”</p>
<p>“Nice try, Dustpaw!” Came a shout from the apprentice’s den, “I woke up four times, and the only one awake was Ravenpaw, not you!”</p>
<p>“So what I’m hearing is that Ravenpaw stayed out later than we did, stayed up to help my daughter through the night, and he <em>still</em> managed to be up before you.”</p>
<p>Dustpaw scowled at the ground, tail lashing hard enough to stir up the dust. Ravenpaw immediately felt bad for his brother, it wasn’t his fault he slept in, so what if he was a little tired? Ravenpaw hoped that neither of them would get in trouble over this.</p>
<p>When it became clear that Dustpaw wasn’t going to respond, Redtail just sighed. “You’re lucky this is an informal assessment Dustpaw, rather than your final. Let's get a move on you two, we’re wasting daylight just standing around here</p>
<p>Redtail headed for the entrance while Bluestar and Tigerclaw stayed with the apprentices for a moment.</p>
<p>“Neither of you are in trouble, Dustpaw, you aren’t the first apprentice to oversleep and you won’t be the last. And Ravenpaw, don’t feel bad about this, Patchpelt overslept once as an apprentice and it took me and his sister dragging him over to the fresh-kill pile to wake him up!”</p>
<p>Ravenpaw purred in amusement, trying to imagine the good-natured senior warrior as a young apprentice, what was funnier was imaging his leader dragging the old cat around camp while he slept!</p>
<p>Pressure on his shoulder pushed him out of his thoughts, Tigerclaw had bent his head to nudge Ravenpaw in greeting. “Good luck out there Ravenpaw, make me proud and <em>stay safe.</em>”</p>
<p>“I will, Tigerclaw, I promise!”</p>
<p>“Can we get going now?” Dustpaw asked sullenly, glancing at the entrance where Redtail was waiting, tail twitching impatiently.</p>
<p>“Get going you two, I expect to see the fresh-kill pile refilled when we return!” Bluestar called after them.<br/>The apprentices nodded and hurried off to follow Redtail up and out of the ravine.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As they walked, Ravenpaw found his thoughts turning back to the real problem at the moment. What could be done about Redtail?</p>
<p>Tigerclaw made him swear not to do anything that would put him in danger, but how long could they just sit around while Redtail makes friends with their enemies? How long did they have before Redtail led Shadowclan into the heart of their camp?</p>
<p>Glancing at Redtail, Ravenpaw almost dismissed that thought entirely. Maybe once, Ravenpaw would trust the deputy without question, but even before that day at the thunder path, he had noticed Redtail acting... Well, acting <em>not</em> normal. </p>
<p>He had noticed Redtail’s coming and going in the night, returning just before dawn looking exhausted but still doing his duties for the clan and organizing patrols. The deputy looked half-dead most of the time, it was a wonder he was still awake, even if it only happened once or twice a quarter moon.</p>
<p>Ravenpaw wished he could go back to the times when he was blissfully ignorant of the true nature of their deputy and able to walk alongside him without flinching. Now he found himself on high alert whenever the deputy disappeared from sight.</p>
<p>
  <em>It just didn’t make sense! How could their deputy, the cat Bluestar clearly trusted above all, betray them like this?</em>
</p>
<p>“Ravenpaw, are you listening?” Came the annoyed mew of the deputy.</p>
<p>“Aahh! Sorry Redtail, I guess I’m more tired than I thought.” Ravenpaw stuttered out.</p>
<p>Redtail snorted, “Dustpaw, why don’t you share some of that extra sleep you got with your brother? Looks like he needs it more.”</p>
<p>“How about I give him a good nick in the ear? That’ll wake him up plenty.” Dustpaw muttered.</p>
<p>“Sure, but I get to give you one if you try.” Redtail retorted. “I don’t want any more attitude from you today Dustpaw, you’re lucky Bluestar didn’t send you to clean the elder’s den instead of doing your assessment.”</p>
<p>Dustpaw's ears flattened and he growled at his paws, Redtail just rolled his eyes and continued speaking.</p>
<p>“Dustpaw, from the Owl tree you will go downstream for your hunting assessment. Ravenpaw, you can go upstream. Bring all of your catches back here by sun high, whoever catches the most gets first pick of the fresh-kill pile when we return. Are you ready?”</p>
<p>The apprentices leaped to their paws, even Dustpaw managed to look a little excited.</p>
<p>“Go!” </p>
<p>And with that, the apprentices took off, one throwing up leaves as he hurtled downstream while the other flung himself at the nearest tree, disappearing into the branches above.</p>
<p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p>
<p>Ravenpaw was trying to focus on his assessment, really, he was. He caught a few birds while stalking along the branches, as well as a small squirrel. Leafbare would be here soon so he had to be careful he didn’t over hunt or catch prey that was too young.</p>
<p>Idly, Ravenpaw wondered if he ought to do some hunting on the ground soon. He had already returned to the holly bush by the Owl Tree with his catches a few times now so that he wouldn’t have to dig up his prey twice. Redtail probably couldn’t see him from where he was so high up, and he hadn’t heard the tell-tale signs of a cat following him from above.</p>
<p>Redtail... couldn’t see him?</p>
<p>Maybe this was the chance he needed!</p>
<p>He could deal with Redtail on his own, all he needed to do was get Redtail to follow him as far as the thunder path, from there he could confront the deputy about his alliance with Shadowclan, and from there...</p>
<p>Shadowclan would be welcome to take him if it came to that.</p>
<p>Ravenpaw glanced down and saw Redtail sniffing the base of a tree a few fox-lengths away. Purposely, he pushed his weight onto a thinner branch, making it bounce and drop leaves onto the ground.</p>
<p>Redtail glanced up and Ravenpaw made sure to turn quickly, letting the deputy catch a glimpse of him before bounding away along the branches, leaving a careful trail for the deputy to follow.<br/>Ravenpaw was going to get to the bottom of this, he would not let Redtail destroy his clan!</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Chapter two!! Ravenpaw isn't very good at listening, is he? What is he planning on doing?</p>
<p>Comment what you think might happen in the next chapter!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter Three</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ravenpaw watched through narrowed eyes as the deputy began sniffing around the base of a tree, visibly nervous as the trail led closer and closer to the Shadowclan border.</p>
<p>After a few fruitless minutes, Redtail stepped back and started to scan the branches for the wayward apprentice.</p>
<p>“Ravenpaw, I know you’re nearby. I told you to go upstream, but not this far! You’ve gotten too close to the border, it’s almost sunhigh now, consider your assessment over so we can go back and find Dustpaw and the catches you two made.”</p>
<p>Not caring for how much noise he made, Ravenpaw began circling Redtail from above, showering leaves down onto him, as scared as Ravenpaw was, he forced himself to channel all the confidence he could from what Tigerclaw taught him.</p>
<p>“Or, we could stay here. Have a quick little chat? I’m sure it won’t take long” Ravenpaw called down.</p>
<p>Redtail’s head whipped back and forth, trying to pinpoint where the apprentice was. “Ravenpaw, that’s an order! Get down this instant and maybe I won’t tell Bluestar or Tigerclaw about your behavior.”</p>
<p>“Shouldn’t you be more worried about <em>me</em> telling Bluestar about <em>your</em> behavior?”</p>
<p>“...What in Starclan’s name are you talking about?”</p>
<p>Ravenpaw hopped down from the tree directly behind Redtail. “Oh I don’t know, your midnight wanders? Lying about fox and badger scents? How about the fact that every time I see you, you smell of pines and marshes?”</p>
<p>Redtail turned around quickly, looking panicked. “I don’t know. <em>What. You. Are. Talking about.</em> But this ends now Ravenpaw, I’ll have you cleaning the elder’s den for three moons for this stunt you’ve pulled!”</p>
<p>“Or Bluestar might just <em>exile</em> you for the stunts <em>you’ve</em> been pulling, ever think about that?” Ravenpaw mewed, twitching his whiskers.</p>
<p>Redtail looked like he was about to crack, his hackles raised higher than Ravenpaw had ever seen them. Good, that meant he still had the upper paw, he just had to keep needling the deputy until he confessed.</p>
<p>“Here’s what I know,” Ravenpaw said as he stretched leisurely. “You’ve been leaving camp at night, your scent is more like a fern’s than a cat’s, clearly trying to cover up the stench of the marshes you’ve been padding through. You’re awfully close to the new Shadowclan deputy, have been since just after Dustpaw and I were apprenticed. And suddenly Raggedstar is dead, but when Shadowclan blamed Windclan, you were the one who looked defensive.”</p>
<p>“I don’t know what you <em>think</em> you know, Ravenpaw, but I promise it’s not whatever conspiracy you’ve convinced yourself of,” Redtail growled.</p>
<p>“Do you really think I’m the only one who’s noticed?” Ravenpaw shot back. “I’ve heard the whispers around camp, but no one actually wants to talk about it because you’re the <em>deputy.</em> But I’m not afraid of you, I know the truth!”</p>
<p>“And what truth is it that you think you know?”</p>
<p>“You’ve been helping Brokenstar reach leadership, and you have betrayed Thunderclan in doing so.”</p>
<p>Redtail took a step back, “You have no proof, Ravenpaw! Only a few coincidences that lined up, no one would believe you if you told them about this... this ludicrous idea of yours!”</p>
<p>“I used to think it was a coincidence, but now I have proof. Remember two moons ago when you were bringing Shadowclan rabbits caught on our territory?”</p>
<p>“That never happened.”</p>
<p>“The last rabbit you caught was one that I tracked from Snakerocks. I was a fox-lengths away from catching it until you showed up.”</p>
<p>Redtail stood stock still, clearly he remembered something about that day.</p>
<p>“I knew I scented another cat nearby, I assumed it was just the border patrol from earlier,” Redtail murmured.</p>
<p>“And now you know, you know that <em>I</em> know. Now you have a choice to make.”</p>
<p>Redtail’s head shot up, eyes wide. “What do you mean, a choice? Ravenpaw, what are you expecting to happen now?”</p>
<p>Ravenpaw gestured to the Shadowclan border not far behind them. “Either you leave now, and Dustpaw and I eventually return to camp not knowing why you never came back. <em>Or I’ll make you leave.</em>”</p>
<p>“... Ravenpaw, I’ve been to your training sessions, you can’t <em>make</em> me do anything. You’re-”</p>
<p>Ravenpaw cut off the deputy with a snarl, swiping with unsheathed claws a whisker's length from Redtail’s nose.</p>
<p>“I. Said. <strong><em>LEAVE!</em></strong>" Ravenpaw growled.</p>
<p>Redtail was frozen in his paws, having never seen the timid apprentice this angry, unfortunately, he didn’t move fast enough to avoid the seething black tom.</p>
<p>Ravenpaw was shaking on the inside, really what was he thinking, challenging Redtail like this? But there was no going back now. He let out a yowl, crashing into Redtail at full speed, knocking him down. If Redtail didn’t want to leave peacefully, Ravenpaw would prove just how loyal he was to his clan, ready to defend it with teeth and claws.</p>
<p>Ravenpaw would save his clan from the rotting traitor within.</p>
<p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p>
<p>Tigerclaw followed Bluestar out of camp, Longtail and Runningwind taking up the rear. He twitched his whiskers in amusement as he remembered the new warrior’s reaction to being asked to go on patrol with their leader. </p>
<p>Longtail had only been made a warrior a few days ago, it was no wonder the young tom was excited to be chosen by Bluestar herself for an important mission. Longtail had even woken up early to groom his pelt to perfection as if he was expecting to be made deputy that morning. Tigerclaw may or may not have purposely kicked up dust in the clearing as he padded past the pale warrior.</p>
<p>Tigerclaw blamed it on being tired as he made his way to the dirtplace, but really he just wanted to irritate the new warrior.</p>
<p>It's not as if he wasn’t going to get dirty anyway that morning, Longtail would have to learn to live with a little dust on his pelt every now and then.</p>
<p>As they approached the rocks, Tigerclaw started twitching his ears around, searching for any sounds that might indicate an adder nearby.</p>
<p>“Runningwind, I want you and Longtail to keep your ears and eyes open for snakes coming out of the holes while Tigerclaw and I work to move the rocks back into position, understood?”</p>
<p>“Yes Bluestar, we’ll be ready.” Runningwind dipped his head and bounded up one of the boulders to keep lookout.</p>
<p>Longtail started when he saw Bluestar and Tigerclaw still watching him, and he rushed to Runningwind’s side who looked like he was trying not to laugh at the younger warrior.</p>
<p>Bluestar huffed and shook her head, beckoning Tigerclaw to follow with her tail as they set to work.</p>
<p>The sun crept steadily into the sky as the pair meticulously checked each and every hole, eventually, they split up, instead partnering with one of the lookout’s to speed up their progress.</p>
<p>Longtail went with Tigerclaw, scanning carefully from his perch above the senior warrior to point out any holes that he might miss, Tigerclaw wasn’t eager to be paired with Longtail, though it turned out that the tabby was surprisingly efficient, they’d be done in time to meet Redtail and the apprentices at camp, or at the Owl Tree if they were lucky.</p>
<p>Tigerclaw grunted as he pushed a larger rock over a hole, looked like some other animal tried to get inside. He leaned in closer to try and catch a scent, could be a fox cub looking for a new den, that was the last thing Thunderclan needed right before Leafbare.</p>
<p>Something caught his eye when just as he was about to pull his head away, a tuft of ginger fur caught at the edges of the hole, not visible unless a cat had stuck their head inside the opening like Tigerclaw had.</p>
<p>He barely had to sniff it to identify the scent, Tigerclaw growled to himself as he stuffed the piece of fur out of sight and shoved the rock back over the hole harshly.</p>
<p>Longtail noticed the aggression and quickly hopped over to Tigerclaw, “Everything alright? Was there an adder?”</p>
<p>“No, just thought I caught a scent of a fox, it's stale though, could barely tell it was there,” Tigerclaw said shortly.</p>
<p>“Oh, alright. We should probably catch back up to Bluestar and Runningwind, they just finished up on their end.”</p>
<p>As the pair headed back, Tigerclaw swore he heard a yowl coming from the Shadowclan border, Brokenstar was probably picking another fight with Windclan. Longtail’s head shot up, whiskers twitching, Tigerclaw just ushered him along, Shadowclan wasn’t their problem to deal with at the moment.</p>
<p>Tigerclaw was more concerned by the fact that he found Redtail’s fur inside an adder-hole, as stale as the scent was. Looks like their deputy already got what he needed from Snakerocks moons ago, Tigerclaw’s efforts had proven pointless.</p>
<p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p>
<p>Dustpaw snarled as the vole he was chasing darted away under the root of a tree, his muscles ached from the training the night before to prepare for his assessment. They ached so bad he barely got any sleep.</p>
<p>Spottedleaf told him that they were just growing pains, and if he really couldn’t sleep then he could wake her up to ask for a poppy seed or two. He regretted not doing so the other night, he had wanted to stay up and talk to Ravenpaw about his training with Tigerclaw. To be honest, he was worried that Tigerclaw was training his brother a little too hard, especially since they were so late getting back to camp after he and Redtail finished.</p>
<p>Of course, any and all sympathy he held for his brother had blown away like leaves in the fall since that morning. Ravenpaw shoved him out of his <em>nest</em> and made him that morning’s spectacle, and <em>he</em> was the one who got a talking to? In front of everyone?</p>
<p>Yeah, okay, he <em>should</em> have been awake on time for their assessment, but did Ravenpaw really have to wake him up like that?</p>
<p>Dustpaw watched idly as a bird flew overhead, he should probably try and catch it. It was almost sunhigh and all he had managed to catch was a small squirrel and a wood mouse. Not nearly enough to pass his assessment, but he was really past the point of caring now. Ravenpaw probably caught all the prey in the forest and would be waiting smugly by the Owl Tree-</p>
<p><em>No, no he wouldn’t be.</em> Dustpaw chided himself, his brother was the most humble cat he knew, smart too. Probably caught five pieces so that he wouldn’t risk overhunting the area, Ravenpaw always did ask their mentors if they should hunt in the same place most of their hunting patrols, Ravenpaw was always thinking about stuff like that.</p>
<p>Dustpaw dug up his meager catches and headed back to the Owl Tree, ready to face Redtail’s disappointment, he probably already saw all of his failed attempts, a frown on his face while he congratulated Ravenpaw on his catches...</p>
<p>Any other apprentice would be dreading this moment if they were in his paws, but Dustpaw had more reason to be worried, he was the <em>deputy’s apprentice</em> for Starclan’s sake! He had far more to prove than Sandpaw did, Ravenpaw maybe, but Dustpaw knew just how hard it was to please Tigerclaw with just about anything. They were probably evenly matched there.</p>
<p>As Dustpaw reburied his prey, he idly wondered if Bluestar would consider switching his and Ravenpaw’s mentors. Redtail would have an easier time training Ravenpaw, as skittish as he was, and Tigerclaw focused more on battle training than hunting it seemed, battle training gave him the chance to stretch his muscles fully. A good battle training session helped him sleep better, his muscles still ached, but it somehow felt better than when he spent all day tensed up practicing his hunting crouches.</p>
<p>Suddenly, Dustpaw heard a yowl coming from further upstream, it sounded like Ravenpaw! And almost as if to answer his call, Dustpaw faintly heard Redtail’s battle cry as well.</p>
<p>Ravenpaw and Redtail must be in trouble! Abandoning his half-buried prey, Dustpaw hared off upstream, ready for whatever was attacking his brother and mentor.</p>
<p>No matter how annoyed he was with his brother, he wouldn’t let anything happen to him, ever.</p>
<p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p>
<p>“Ravenpaw, please! Just give me a chance to explain, you don’t understand!” Redtail pleaded, batting the apprentice away with sheathed claws.</p>
<p>“There's nothing you can say to make up for the fact that you betrayed your clan!” Ravenpaw snarled, swiping at the deputy’s shoulder.</p>
<p>“I would never betray my clan, for anything! Ravenpaw you have to believe me, I’ll prove it! Just let me-”</p>
<p>Redtail was cut off by a screech coming from the skies themselves.</p>
<p>“Ravenpaw, walk over to me slowly and keep to the edge of the clearing,” Redtail said quietly.</p>
<p>“Trying to distract me now?” Ravenpaw growled.</p>
<p>“Didn’t you hear that? There could be a hawk circling us from above, it probably heard us fighting.”</p>
<p>“Hawk’s usually stick to Windclan territory, quit making excuses!”</p>
<p>“Ravenpaw, just do as I say! Hawks venture into our skies during leaf-fall and leaf-bare, it's not unheard of. I was almost killed by one as an apprentice.” Redtail said hurriedly.</p>
<p>This time Ravenpaw heard the screech of the hawk and caught a glimpse of it through the trees, for a moment he found himself stuck. What was he more afraid of, the deputy or the hawk?</p>
<p>When Ravenpaw didn’t move, Redtail did the only thing he could think to do, he tackled the apprentice and pushed him into the shadows by some tree roots, sitting on top of him to hide him from view.</p>
<p>Ravenpaw squawked in surprise, and attempted to wriggle out from under the deputy, he managed to poke his head out just in time to see Dustpaw burst out of the ferns in front of them.</p>
<p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p>
<p>Dustpaw barreled his way through the ferns and looked around, he could see Redtail pinning Ravenpaw to the ground but no signs of danger anywhere.</p>
<p>Well, the look on Ravenpaw’s face looked pretty dangerous, but not the kind of danger Dustpaw was thinking of.</p>
<p>“Dustpaw, move! There’s a-” Redtail was cut off by the screech of a bird above them, Dustpaw watched with wide eyes as a hawk swooped down, claws extended and barely grazing the top of the bush that partially covered his mentor and brother.</p>
<p>The hawk flew back up into the sky, screeching and circling again, diving before Dustpaw had time to hide himself. </p>
<p>But the hawk wasn’t aiming for him, it was going for Redtail and Ravenpaw. Dustpaw knew it was rare for a hawk to be able to carry away a full-grown cat, but Redtail was pretty small, Dustpaw was already a few mouse lengths taller and Spottedleaf did tell him that he was only going to get bigger.</p>
<p>Even if it couldn’t carry Redtail, it could make away with Ravenpaw, he had barely grown at all since their apprentice ceremony, Ravenpaw always was the smallest one in the den and that hadn’t changed.</p>
<p>This time when the hawk dove down, Dustpaw threw himself on top of it, forcing the bird to the ground. He dug his back claws into the wings of the hawk, pinning it down so that he could make the kill bite to its neck.</p>
<p>The hawk thrashed and tried to shake the apprentice off, but Dustpaw held firm with his teeth and legs, waiting until it finally stopped moving.</p>
<p>Redtail silently climbed off of Ravenpaw and crept closer, prodding the bird in amazement.</p>
<p>“You... you killed it! Dustpaw, that’s... Incredible! You should have hid though, it's a Starclan-given miracle that you managed to ground it at all.”</p>
<p>“You saved us, how did you even know it was here?” Ravenpaw rasped, still out of breath from when Redtail practically smothered him.</p>
<p>“I heard yowling, I knew that Ravenpaw was the only one who would be up here and when I heard you, Redtail, I figured you were in trouble. I thought Shadowclan had gotten you!”</p>
<p>“Well it’s a lucky thing for us that you heard, let's get this back to camp, the clan will eat well for the next two days!”</p>
<p>“Wait, do we even eat hawks?”</p>
<p>“And what about our other catches?”</p>
<p>Redtail flicked his tail over Dustpaw’s ear fondly, “We don’t usually eat hawks because they’re too difficult to catch, we usually only fight them off to keep the kits and apprentices safe. But it’s almost leaf-bare, this hawk could feed the whole clan tonight. I’ll send a patrol to collect your catches in the evening and we’ll store them for tomorrow.”</p>
<p>“And how about our assessment? Did we do well?” Dustpaw asked eagerly, keeping pace with his mentor as the three cats carried the hawk on their backs.</p>
<p>“Well, that depends on what the retrieval patrol finds. Did you both bury your catches by the Owl Tree?”</p>
<p>“Mine are under the holly bush, I caught a few birds and a squirrel.” Ravenpaw replied dazedly.</p>
<p>“Mine should be nearby as well,” Dustpaw added, he decided not to mention what he caught, if Redtail didn’t know already then hopefully he’d be distracted by the hawk he managed to take down.</p>
<p>Redtail purred, “In that case, I’d give you both a pass. Hurry up now, Bluestar is bound to be impressed by your catch, Dustpaw!”</p>
<p>Ravenpaw trailed behind the duo when they reached camp, allowing Dustpaw to take most of the weight with Redtail, there wasn’t enough room in the tunnel for the three of them to go in together anyway.</p>
<p>He pondered Redtail’s words before the hawk had shown up, Ravenpaw almost believed him when he said he would never betray his clan, but at the same time, it didn’t change what he saw, what he knew.</p>
<p>Redtail was also quick to use the hawk as an excuse for why they were so disheveled, spinning the tale to Bluestar that Redtail had caught Ravenpaw by surprise, having seen the hawk before the apprentice did. Bluestar was sympathetic, having been there herself when Redtail first came face to face with a hawk.</p>
<p>When asked about the light scratches on his flank, he deflected his sister’s concern, saying that Ravenpaw thought he was an enemy attacking him, easy to mistake with how close he got to the border. Redtail had an answer to everything, and all Ravenpaw could do was nod wordlessly and let the deputy explain it all away.</p>
<p>Numbly, he helped Sandpaw pick the feathers off of the hawk to add to the nursery bedding, as well as to make it easier for the clan to eat. Dustpaw was sitting by the nettle patch with the warriors, boasting about his catch to anyone who would listen.</p>
<p>When Ravenpaw glanced up, he caught Redtail’s eye and he shivered. Redtail had been watching the apprentice with a narrowed gaze as if waiting for him to do something.</p>
<p>The apprentice versus the deputy, at a stalemate. Ravenpaw held knowledge over Redtail, with the ability to spill the truth at any moment...</p>
<p>But Redtail was the clan deputy, and it would be all too easy to make an apprentice like him disappear. Ravenpaw didn’t have the upper paw anymore, Redtail knew that Ravenpaw was willing to tell the clan what he knew.</p>
<p><em>How long do I have,</em> Ravenpaw wondered morbidly. <em>Until Redtail makes a move against me?</em></p>
<p>The only thing that helped him sleep that night was knowing that even if he somehow disappeared, at least his mentor knew the truth as well, he never told Redtail that Tigerclaw was there that night.</p>
<p>Ravenpaw trusted Tigerclaw to do whatever was necessary to keep the clan safe.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I no longer have the patience to wait, I'll have the remaining chapters up by Sunday. You get one today, one tomorrow, and the last one on Sunday. I realized that people may be less likely to leave a comment on a story with such few chapters so here we go!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter Four</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I never thought I’d say this; but the best thing I can prescribe for you, Dustpaw, is more battle training!” Spottedleaf chuckled.</p>
<p>Dustpaw’s head shot up looking shocked, and Ravenpaw twitched his whiskers in amusement. Whoever heard of a <em>medicine cat</em> telling someone to fight more often?</p>
<p>“You were definitely onto something when you told me that you sleep better after a battle training session than hunting. Poppy seeds can only do so much for growing pangs, what you really need is to stretch your muscles in different ways to keep you from getting stiff, hunting does the opposite of that.”</p>
<p>Redtail flicked his tail over his apprentice’s ears, “You’re almost bigger than me y’know. I’ve taught you how to be quick and clever in a fight because I thought you and your brother would end up the same size. I think it might be best to have Tigerclaw take over your training in that area, you’ll probably be as big as him!”</p>
<p>“Maybe even as big as Lionheart!” Ravenpaw teased as well.</p>
<p>Dustpaw flattened his ears and looked away, “No one could be as big as <em>Lionheart</em>,” he mumbled.</p>
<p>“Okay, as big as Whitestorm then.” Ravenpaw said, “Though I’m pretty sure they’re both smaller than they look, not by much, have you <em>seen</em> how much fur they have? Without it, they’d be tiny!”</p>
<p>“Are you looking to test that theory?” Growled a large yellow tom as he squeezed himself into the already crowded den. His voice sounded annoyed but one could still see the twinkle of mirth in his eyes.</p>
<p>Ravenpaw ducked his head in embarrassment, “N-no thanks! Sorry Lionheart!”</p>
<p>“Alright, the rest of you need to leave now so I can deal with Lionheart. Let me guess, you stepped on <em>another</em> thorn?” Spottedleaf said as she shooed the other three cats out of her den.</p>
<p>“Three actually, all on the same paw” Lionheart’s voice faded away as the three padded back into the clearing.</p>
<p>“It's been a long day for the both of you. You two can take the morning off and sleep in a bit, I’ll speak with Tigerclaw about a joint training session tomorrow. You did well, so rest up!” Redtail told the brothers, scanning the clearing for Tigerclaw.</p>
<p>“C’mon Ravenpaw!” Dustpaw chirped, “Do y’think Sandpaw wants to hear about how I caught that massive hawk?”</p>
<p>The pale molly’s head jerked up as she was leaving the nursery, “Hardly! You’ve been gloating all evening about it, why don’t you tell Graykit instead? I’m sure he’d <em>love</em> to hear about how the <em>mighty</em>  Dustpaw saved the <em>deputy</em> from a hawk!”</p>
<p>Dustpaw’s face fell for a moment but perked up at the thought of telling the kit about his heroic feat. He trotted into the nursery as Sandpaw left, not caring that Ravenpaw didn’t follow after him.</p>
<p>Ravenpaw instead followed after Sandpaw, trying not to let the fur on the back of his neck rise as he felt the deputy watching him from afar.</p>
<p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p>
<p>Tigerclaw narrowed his eyes as he watched his apprentice spar with his brother. Ravenpaw was being rather tight-lipped about what happened during his assessment a half-moon ago and Tigerclaw feared the worst, his pacifistic apprentice attacked the deputy and got lucky when the hawk showed up.</p>
<p>Great Starclan though, if Dustpaw kept gloating about it he’d get more than a few clouts this session.</p>
<p>“And then I jumped up just like this!” Dustpaw said excitedly, rearing up on his hindlegs to come crashing down on his brother.</p>
<p>Unfortunately for Dustpaw, Ravenpaw was actually focusing during this session and took the opportunity to swerve to the side and shove his brother over. Watching Dustpaw flail to the ground, Tigerclaw couldn’t help but share a chuckle with Redtail as Dustpaw shook the sand from his pelt and glared half-heartedly at Ravenpaw.</p>
<p>“No fair! I was showing you how to catch a hawk, you should be grateful I’m even trying to help you!” Dustpaw sniffed.</p>
<p>“I thought this session was about battle training, not hunting. Didn’t Spottedleaf tell you not to hunt too much this moon?” Ravenpaw teased back. “I think catching hawks counts as that if you ask me.”</p>
<p>“I still can’t believe my sister told you that, and during leafbare as well,” Redtail muttered.</p>
<p>Tigerclaw rolled his eyes and padded over to the apprentices, nosing Dustpaw into a neater crouch than what he started with. </p>
<p>“Keep your paws tucked and in line with each other, Dustpaw. If that’s the stance you used to take on a hawk, I’m amazed that you even managed to keep it down.” Tigerclaw said gruffly.</p>
<p>Dustpaw nodded and shuffled his paws into place, checking for Tigerclaw’s reaction to make sure he had done it right. Tigerclaw schooled his expression to not give it away, Dustpaw would have to learn by instinct to fall into the correct position.</p>
<p>He flicked his tail signaling to Ravenpaw that he should return to the edge of the clearing. “Attack me,” Tigerclaw ordered simply.</p>
<p>“I thought I was fighting Ravenpaw?” Dustpaw asked, confused.</p>
<p>Tigerclaw gently swatted his paw over the apprentice’s ears, making him duck and jump back. “I said, attack me.”</p>
<p>This time Dustpaw reacted without hesitating, hurtling for Tigerclaw’s flank. The warrior easily sidestepped him just as Ravenpaw had, but this time he found the apprentice tangling himself in his paws, trying to trip him from beneath. Had he been any other warrior, that method would have worked immediately.</p>
<p>Unfortunately for Dustpaw, Tigerclaw was still much bigger than the other, and he swiftly dropped his weight onto the apprentice. Of course, he held back enough to not smother him, but had it been a true battle he would not have received that mercy.</p>
<p>Dustpaw clawed his way out from under Tigerclaw, gasping for breath. He spun around on unsteady paws and tried to jump on Tigerclaw again, but the warrior just held a paw in his face to keep him from moving forward.</p>
<p>“You fight like a cat much smaller than how you’ll grow up to be, it's good to not rely on strength alone but you do still need to learn to use it to your advantage.”</p>
<p>“While we’re at it, how about I take Ravenpaw for some training as well?” Redtail suggested. “I can’t teach Dustpaw to fight as you can, Tigerclaw. But I imagine Ravenpaw can learn a thing or two from me.”</p>
<p>Tigerclaw eyed the deputy for a moment but nodded quickly, it wouldn’t do to deny the deputy such a logical request. As long as they stayed in the clearing it should be fine.</p>
<p>Redtail beckoned Ravenpaw to the other side and crouched. Tigerclaw caught the fearful expression on his apprentice’s face but forced himself to focus on Dustpaw. Surely Redtail wouldn’t try anything with two other cats to witness, right?</p>
<p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p>
<p>A moon had passed and the weather had turned worse, they had already lost Poppydawn, a death Longtail seemed to be taking personally, and Tigerclaw feared that his grandfather Adderfang may be next to go.</p>
<p>“We should take a patrol past our borders,” Tigerclaw suggested. “Not too far, but enough to scout out possible hunting spots. Perhaps upriver along the Riverclan border?”</p>
<p>Bluestar nodded slowly, exhaustion making her eyes appear dull. Like many leaders before her, she had refused to eat until everyone else in the clan had a chance to have at least a mouthful of what little prey there was to go around, even the warriors and apprentices came before her. Spottedleaf found herself jumping constantly between her leader and her former mentor who was sick with greencough after taking care of all the patients himself.</p>
<p>“That may be for the best, Tigerclaw. How about you lead the patrol since it was your idea? Take the three fittest cats you can and catch whatever you can find on the way back.” The blue leader rasped, fluffing up her pelt in the cold.</p>
<p>Somehow, it only made her appear smaller.</p>
<p>Tigerclaw considered his options, Darkstripe and Longtail seemed to have enough energy most days, and it wouldn’t hurt to take Thistleclaw as well. Maybe he’d be a little less tense if he could do something worthwhile for the clan, for all his faults, he knew his old mentor couldn’t stand by and watch the clan starve.</p>
<p>“Tigerclaw if you don’t mind, I’d like to take Ravenpaw hunting with me today. You can have Dustpaw tag along with your patrol, it’ll be a good experience for him.”</p>
<p>“What do you want my apprentice for?” Tigerclaw asked, genuinely confused. After a whole moon of joint sessions, Tigerclaw assumed that Redtail had no interest in Ravenpaw beyond training, but why would the deputy want to take him out <em>alone</em>?</p>
<p>“He has a peculiar method in hunting, he hardly touched the ground during his assessment. I doubt he learned that from you, Tigerclaw, no offense. If he’s that good at tree hunting, we may be able to track down some squirrel nests higher up.”</p>
<p>Bluestar answered for him, “That sounds like a good idea Redtail, but I don’t want you hunting any of the squirrels you two may find.”</p>
<p>“Uhh, I thought the whole idea was finding more prey for the clan?” Redtail asked, perplexed.</p>
<p>“When I was an apprentice, my sister came up with the idea of baiting the mice with cobnuts. Ravenpaw seems to have a similar mindset, I heard him earlier talking to himself about leaving nuts near prey-holes to feed them. It's an odd idea, but if we make sure the prey in our territory can survive Leafbare, we’re sure to have a good supply of food by newleaf.”</p>
<p>Tigerclaw blinked, he never would have thought of that himself. It still sounded like an inane idea to him, feeding the prey that’s meant to feed the clan, but the surety of having food when the cold passed sounded too good to pass up.</p>
<p>Redtail stood up, “I’ll take Mousefur and Runningwind, they’re not the best climbers but they can scout the tree roots for other prey-dens. If we both leave now, we may be done by sun-down, there’s no time to lose!”</p>
<p>Bluestar flicked her tail in dismissal, closing her eyes tiredly. The two warriors got to their paws, leaving their leader to rest.</p>
<p>Tigerclaw hurried to the apprentice's den, asking Redtail to summon the warriors while he went to the apprentice's den.</p>
<p>“Dustpaw, Ravenpaw! You two are on patrol, Ravenpaw you’ll be with Mousefur, Runningwind, and Redtail. He’ll explain along the way, Dustpaw you’ll be with me and a few other warriors as hunting scouts. We’re going beyond our borders today so be on your guard.”</p>
<p>The pair hurried out of their nests where they had been sheltering from the worst of the cold. Sandpaw was out doing some light hunting with Whitestorm, finally able to start training again. A good thing too, Spottedleaf was adamant that Dustpaw be relieved from hunting duties until his growth spurt hit. Tigerclaw couldn’t remember getting special treatment like that when he was an apprentice, but there was no arguing with a medicine cat, and Sandpaw could more than make-up for Dustpaw’s absence on patrols.</p>
<p>Thistleclaw scowled as he trudged out of his den, Mousefur, Darkstripe, Longtail, and Runningwind blinking wearily as they trailed behind.</p>
<p>“What’s this about scouting?” Thistleclaw growled to Redtail. “I suppose Bluestar’s perfect deputy will be leading?”</p>
<p>“Actually, I am.” Tigerclaw mewed smoothly, guiding the cantankerous senior warrior aside, flicking his tail to let Darkstripe and Longtail know that they had to follow as well.</p>
<p>“Redtail will be leading a patrol to search for prey-dens to leave nuts and seeds for, while we will be going beyond our borders to bring back food for the clan.” He explained.</p>
<p>Thistleclaw let out a hearty chuckle, “They’re off to <em>feed</em> our prey? Who’s hare-brained idea was that! Bluestar <em>must</em> be about to lose her mind with this next life if she supported something as stupid as that. Must run in the family.”</p>
<p>Tigerclaw had to keep himself from biting back with more than just words, “It was my apprentice’s idea, and it’s hardly hare-brained. Didn’t your mate, Bluestar’s <em>sister</em>, have a similar idea in your youth? Are you calling Snowfur hare-brained as well?”</p>
<p>Thistleclaw flinched at the sound of his late mate’s name, baring his teeth as he remembered how she died. Tigerclaw knew it was a low blow, those types of old wounds never heal well. But Thistleclaw seemed to get the message he was trying to get across and kept quiet as the patrol continued on its way towards the border.</p>
<p>Tigerclaw opened his jaw to take in the scents and grunted. “We may as well mark the border while we’re here. Spread-out, Darkstripe and Longtail can see to the border from the twoleg-bridge to Four-Trees. Thistleclaw will take Sunning Rocks. Dustpaw and I will continue making our way up-river, I expect to see you all by Sunhigh at the furthest reaches of our border.”</p>
<p>“Isn’t that near Twolegplace?” Darkstripe sneered.</p>
<p>“There are woods still left on our side of the fence, that’s where we’ll be going,” Tigerclaw replied shortly. “Go, <em>now</em>,” he ordered.</p>
<p>The three warriors nodded and sped off, there was a gleam in Thistleclaw’s eyes that Tigerclaw didn’t like, but there was nothing he could do but keep going forward with Dustpaw.</p>
<p>“I don’t care what Spottedleaf says, if you spot any prey while we’re moving, I expect you to at least <em>try</em> and catch it. Understood?”</p>
<p>“Yes, Tigerclaw.”</p>
<p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p>
<p>Ravenpaw was shaking in his paws as he followed Redtail to the Great Sycamore tree.</p>
<p>Mousefur and Runningwind were already given their orders. Go collect seeds and any nuts they could find that weren’t needed by Spottedleaf and leave them in front of prey-holes or common foraging spots in the forest.</p>
<p>“Let’s see how high you can climb, Ravenpaw,” Redtail said, tail curled over his paws as he watched the apprentice with glittering eyes. “Stop when you hit a branch that you feel is connected to a neighboring tree and I’ll come to join you.”</p>
<p>Ravenpaw nodded, stomach-churning at the thought of what Redtail would do when he got up beside him. Would he be pushed from his perch? If he went too high he could snap his neck on one of the branches on the way down, he’d have to make sure that that couldn’t happen.</p>
<p>But then, it wasn’t called the Great Sycamore for nothing.</p>
<p>Nervously, Ravenpaw began to scale the great tree, not daring to look down at what Redtail might be doing below. Once he reached a branch that looked to be almost interwoven with a tree nearby, he called down to Redtail to report it.</p>
<p>In a few heartbeats, Redtail was next to him, peering around to get a good look. “Good work Ravenpaw, I don’t see any bird nests up here but there could be a few squirrel-holes nearby. Let’s get moving, be on the lookout for any nuts you can grab along the way.”</p>
<p>And so on they went, deputy and apprentice, balancing along the branches scouring the trees for anything prey-related. They stocked a few empty bird nests with seeds for when the birds returned and startled quite a few squirrels that were sleeping in their dens. Had Ravenpaw not been so nervous being next to Redtail, he would have been tempted to at least catch some of the older squirrels. But Bluestar’s orders rang in his mind so he held back.</p>
<p>It wasn’t until the scent of pines hit his nose that Ravenpaw realized something might be wrong.</p>
<p>“Stop,” Redtail ordered suddenly. </p>
<p>“Why are we at the border?” Ravenpaw breathed, fur bristling as he recognized the clearing below as the place he had so foolishly challenged the deputy not too long ago.</p>
<p>“I have some business to attend to, and you’re going to help.” Redtail replied simply, nosing the apprentices towards the trunk of the tree.</p>
<p>“You... what? You think I’m going to help you betray our clan even more? That’s insane, I won’t-”</p>
<p>“Yes you will, and when we’re done I promise everything will make sense.”</p>
<p>“I’ll run!” Ravenpaw threatened. “I- I’ll run and tell Bluestar right away what you’re doing, she’ll banish you forever!”</p>
<p>“If you were going to tell, you would have done it already. Now be quiet and do as you're told. They’re here.”</p>
<p>And just as Redtail said it, a huge white tom with jet-black paws emerged from the bushes, followed by two brown tabbies.</p>
<p>“Hello again, old friend.” Blackfoot purred,  padding up to the Thunderclan deputy with confidence. “Is this the little helper you promised?”</p>
<p>“Yes Blackfoot, I’m sure he’ll be of <em>great</em> use today.”</p>
<p>Ravenpaw gulped as he took in the three Shadowclan warriors before him. He would have to play along with whatever Redtail had planned, one claw out of line and he’d lose more than just his pelt before sun-down.</p>
<p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p>
<p>The sun was just beginning to dip below the horizon when Tigerclaw, Longtail, Darkstripe, and Dustpaw returned to their own territory. Thistleclaw never showed up, though Longtail said Thistleclaw was going to try hunting at the base of the rocks. Tigerclaw could only shrug as he was focused on catching a pheasant a few fox-lengths ahead. Dustpaw had managed to catch a mouse but preferred to softly call out prey locations and give directions on how to catch them.</p>
<p>Darkstripe almost shredded the apprentice who had unknowingly given orders to warriors his senior. Tigerclaw stopped him though and told the pair to listen to whatever Dustpaw said, if the apprentice wanted to feel like he was in charge then Tigerclaw would treat it as another assessment. It would be good to know if the tabby’s ego matched his actual abilities, and being able to lead a patrol was one of them.</p>
<p>Surprisingly, or maybe unsurprisingly to some, Dustpaw did well and the patrol managed to return to their own territory with three mice, a squirrel, and one fat pheasant for the elders to share. Dustpaw even made sure to let Tigerclaw know where he had spotted a few burrows that could be rabbit warrens. Longtail had wanted to check them out until Tigerclaw pointed out that they could just as easily be fox-dens.</p>
<p>As they were walking beside the river, Darkstripe’s head shot up. “I hear fighting! It sounds like it’s coming from Sunning Rocks!”</p>
<p>Tigerclaw froze, wracking his mind to remember the border patrol schedule for the day. Redtail had set dawn and dusk patrols to do the full route each to make room for more hunting patrols. Which meant...</p>
<p>“Thistleclaw must be fighting them alone.” Tigerclaw breathed, eyes wide with worry. </p>
<p>“He doesn’t really think he can reclaim the rocks on his own, does he?” Dustpaw asked, ears flattened.</p>
<p>“Of course not! The patrol probably attacked him because he was alone.” Tigerclaw scoffed, though in his mind he had to wonder the same thing. </p>
<p>Tigerclaw shook his head and pelted downriver, his patrol following close behind, but what they saw shocked them all.</p>
<p>Crookedstar stood on the Thunderclan side of the border, his jaws clamped around Thistleclaw’s neck as his eyes burned with hatred. Oakheart, the Riverclan deputy, was trying to soothe a soaked young apprentice who looked to be in shock. Blood dripped into her eye as she sat there shaking, paw occasionally coming up to touch her neck. It didn’t look to be bleeding, but the poor molly could barely sit up straight without the help of her deputy.</p>
<p>“What happened here?” Tigerclaw snarled, leaping down mouse-lengths in front of the Riverclan leader.</p>
<p>Crookedstar dropped Thistleclaw like a stone, his broken jaw agape for a moment when he saw the patrol behind him that was inching around to close off their access to the river.</p>
<p>“He attacked my daughter.” Crookedstar defended. “She’s barely nine moons and he attacked her, tried to hold her underwater until she drowned.”</p>
<p>“I thought you fish-faces could hold your breath long enough, you lot never hesitate to try that with our warriors,” Tigerclaw replied coolly. </p>
<p>He bent low to press an ear to Thistleclaw’s chest, though he already knew what he would find. No pulse, his eyes were already as dull and clouded as his mother’s were not too long ago.</p>
<p><em>Is that why you always felt the need to fight?</em> Tigerclaw wondered to himself. <em>Did I miss you hurting, hiding it away only to reopen the wound myself when I brought up Snowfur? Forgive me, old friend, you will be missed.</em></p>
<p>“And <em>he</em> is dead,” Tigerclaw said flatly. “I was taught that an honorable warrior doesn’t need to kill to win a battle unless in self-defense.”</p>
<p>“I know the code!” Crookedstar snapped. “Perhaps he was the one who didn’t know it, he tried to kill her!”</p>
<p>“She’s alive, isn’t she?” Tigerclaw shook his head. “Longtail, Darkstripe. Let them pass and help me get Thistleclaw onto my back. You three will have to carry the prey yourselves.”</p>
<p>Crookedstar blinked, “You’re letting us go?”</p>
<p>“He was fighting to take back the rocks on his own, wasn’t he?”</p>
<p>Oakheart nodded as he helped the apprentice to her paws.</p>
<p>“Bluestar wouldn’t have supported this, though I doubt she’d support the death of a clanmate as well. We’ll report this to Bluestar, and if she decides to start a war over it at least there’ll be a more equal battle when the time comes.”</p>
<p>Longtail moved aside reluctantly, but Darkstripe stood where was, leveling a glare with the three trespassers and spitting at Crookedstar’s feet as he passed.</p>
<p>Dustpaw just sat crouched where he was, shaking. It was then that Tigerclaw noticed the pool of blood forming at his paws, it was almost never-ending. He may not have felt too squeamish about it, but he understood that the apprentice would be. Silently, Tigerclaw went over to the nearest tree root and clawed off some moss to stuff into the wound. It wouldn’t last for long but hopefully, it would stay until they reached the camp again.</p>
<p>Dustpaw took the mice and went ahead, stuttering that he would inform the elders to and Spottedleaf to prepare them while Tigerclaw and the others took a slower pace so as not to let Thistleclaw’s body slip off his back.</p>
<p>By the time they reached the gorse tunnel, Redtail and Ravenpaw were just returning looking disheveled.</p>
<p>“What happened?” Redtail mewed in shock.</p>
<p>Longtail, who had been carrying the pheasant, stopped to explain the situation quietly. Redtail’s gaze darkened when he heard the news, looking as outraged as Tigerclaw wished he felt.</p>
<p>But instead, he just felt empty, <em>hollow</em>.</p>
<p>He trudged forward, not looking at Ravenpaw as he went past. Heading straight to the clearing where the elders were waiting to help get Thistleclaw down. Spottedleaf was nearby with lavender and more moss.</p>
<p>While she attended to the body, Tigerclaw went to Bluestar’s den only to be called back down by Spottedleaf.</p>
<p>“Best not to go in there, Bluestar is sick and it might be whitecough. I don’t need it spreading around the camp.” She told him quietly.</p>
<p>Tigerclaw stared blankly at her but nodded. Instead, he went to take the mice to the queens. Goldenflower and Willowpelt must be hungry, he could tell them what happened while he was there.</p>
<p>He had barely taken two steps into the warm den when he saw the look on Goldenflower’s face. It was full of heart-wrenching sympathy and part of Tigerclaw wanted to turn away, deny the comfort she was ready to offer him.</p>
<p>But he couldn’t.</p>
<p>He sank down next to her, not letting his legs buckle until he knew he wasn’t about to fall on top of her. She would be kitting soon and he didn’t want to hurt her. Instead, he just let himself lay beside her with closed eyes as she gently washed his flank, cleaning off the blood that had stained it from carrying Thistleclaw by himself for so long.</p>
<p><em>Just for a moment,</em> he told himself as he allowed himself to be lulled to sleep. Just for a moment, he’d let himself forget about the worries and troubles of his clan while he silently grieved for his mentor. When the sun fully sets, he would go out and grieve with everyone else, but for now, he would stay with his, (hopefully soon to be mate), <em>friend</em> and listen to the oblivious chatter made by Graykit as he bounced around the den.</p>
<p>Maybe, if he had stayed in the clearing, he would have heard Ravenpaw speaking in hushed whispers with Redtail, eyes gleaming as they spoke of their day.</p>
<p>Maybe, he would have noticed how his apprentice was drenched in the scent of ferns attempting to hide the stench of marshes.</p>
<p>But he didn’t, he was spending some much needed time with Goldenflower after the shock of finding his mentor dead in the jaws of the Riverclan leader.</p>
<p>For now, Tigerclaw let himself believe that one day the sun would shine a little brighter on his clan, and that was enough to bring him peace for the night.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I've had comments on my tumblr uploads saying that I made them cry of Thistleclaw, how did YOU guys feel about it?</p>
<p>Yes, I'm fishing for comments, can you blame me?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter Five</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There were two bodies laid out for the vigil that night.</p><p>Featherwhisker had passed on earlier that day, likely while Tigerclaw was on patrol. With Spottedleaf being torn between caring for Bluestar and Featherwhisker, neither seemed to get the treatment they needed. Not that it was Spottedleaf’s fault, of course, the molly was run haggard by trying to care for the whole clan’s ailments. She must have accidentally brought Featherwhisker’s illness to Bluestar’s den when updating her on the recovery of the other sick patients.</p><p>Not many warriors stayed out for the full vigil, half-starved and exhausted, most preferred to stay in their nests rather than braving the cold night. </p><p>Adderfang was still in the medicine den, though the old cat tried to insist he stay out with his old apprentice, he could barely make the walk into the clearing to share a few words about Thistleclaw.</p><p>Rosetail, a senior warrior and Thistleclaw’s sister tried to stay out all night, but her bones were too cold beneath her thinning fur and returned to her nest quickly, taking comfort in the warmth from the other warriors who chose to sit out the vigil.</p><p>Lionheart had taken the spot on Tigerclaw’s other side. He and Goldenflower had been denmates with Thistleclaw as kits, he had shared a few stories for fallen clanmate. It was strange to think that his best friend was barely younger than his old mentor, who in turn had only been a few moons younger than their <em>leader.</em> </p><p>Bluestar managed to drag herself from her den in time to start the vigil, though she only performed the formalities of it before returning to her nest at Spottedleaf’s insistence, but she didn’t seem to need much convincing.</p><p>Dappletail and One-eye were prodding Goldenflower and Lionheart awake, Smallear was about to approach when Tigerclaw forced himself to his paws. Blinking the sleep out of his eyes, he gazed down at Thistleclaw once more, his body as cold as stone. Thistleclaw’s face was still twisted in a snarl like it was when his patrol found him, and though his eyes were dull Tigerclaw could easily imagine them alight with fury like they always were when he was in a battle.</p><p>Or was it pain that Tigerclaw saw, but masked so well that Tigerclaw saw exactly what everyone else did, an eagerness to battle left unchecked.</p><p>Lionheart bid his sister goodbye and returned to the warriors' den to collect those meant to join him on the dawn patrol while Tigerclaw ushered Goldenflower to the medicine den, with her being so close to kitting he worried that staying out all night could have been bad for her kits. She insisted she didn’t need him lurking there so he went back into the clearing in time to see off the burial. </p><p>Bluestar leaped up onto the Highrock, gathering the attention of only those who had stayed out for the vigil. There was no need to wake anyone else up before dawn. Once again, the clan thanked Thistleclaw and Featherwhisker for their services to their clan and wished them a safe journey to Starclan. Rosetail and Patchpelt shared a look before approaching the base of Highrock.</p><p>“Bluestar?” Patchpelt called up to their leader. “Rosetail and I were talking last night and we’ve decided it’s time for us to retire.”</p><p>Rosetail nodded slowly. “Our bones ache too much in this cold, maybe I could have gone on for another season but after Thistleclaw...”</p><p>She shook her head sadly, choking on her words. “Now that my brother has passed on, I’d like to live the rest of my days in peace, sharing stories with my denmates and the young ones until Starclan calls on me as well.”</p><p>Bluestar blinked sadly but dipped her head, raising her voice, she called a clan meeting.</p><p>“Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the Highrock for a clan meeting!”</p><p>The warriors shuffled out of their dens, looking around blearily, those chosen for the dawn patrol seemed the most irritated as they fluffed out their pelts against the bitter morning cold.</p><p>“Rosetail, Patchpelt. Please step forward,” Bluestar said, the gathered warriors looked curiously at the two oldest warriors among them.</p><p>“Rosetail and Patchpelt, is it your wish to give up the name of a warrior and go to join the elders?”</p><p>“It is.”</p><p>“Yes, it is.”</p><p>A gasp was heard from the medicine den and Goldenflower could be seen ducking her head back in, Patchpelt winced and looked down at his paws guiltily. But Bluestar continued the ceremony without hesitation.</p><p>“Your Clan honors you and all the service you have given to us. I call upon StarClan to give you many moons of rest. May you sleep easy knowing your clan will care for you for all the coming moons, and may we continue to learn from you as you uphold our clan’s history.”</p><p>Rosetail and Patchpelt stepped forward and Bluestar came down from High Rock to rest her chin on both of their heads briefly.</p><p>“Rosetail! Patchpelt! Rosetail! Patchpelt!” The clan called out.</p><p>Dappletail and One-eye had just come through the gorse tunnel to hear the end of the ceremony, “We were wondering when you would join us! The elder’s den is sure to be warm even if there’s a draft, it’ll be just like when we were apprentices.”</p><p>Rosetail purred and followed the two to the elder’s den, “There’s enough bedding to make two more nests, though we’ll have to be quiet, Halftail is still asleep the lazy badger!”</p><p>Patchpelt shuffled his paws, “Uh, I’ll be in in a moment. I need to talk to Goldenflower.”</p><p>Dappletail gave him a nod, “You can have Adderfang’s old nest, I’m sure he won’t mind.” </p><p>Patchpelt dipped his head gratefully and went to Spottedleaf’s den, Tigerclaw got up silently to follow Patchpelt, though he didn’t enter the medicine den with him, he wanted to give them some amount of privacy after all.</p><p>Though that didn’t mean he couldn’t hear the whole conversation anyway, Spottedleaf should probably get someone to reinforce the bramble walls in there.</p><p>“Goldenflower? Can we talk?”</p><p>“... What’s there to talk about?”</p><p>Tigerclaw heard Patchpelt sigh, “I’m sorry for not telling you, I just-”</p><p>“No. No, do <em>not</em> try and spin it like that. You promised to stay a warrior with me at least until our kits become apprentices! They aren’t even born yet!”</p><p>“Goldenflower, <em>please</em>.” Patchpelt’s voice cracked. “I know, and I’m sorry. I just can’t keep up anymore, I’m hurting and I have been for a while now...”</p><p>Goldenflower held back a sniffle, “Your bones are hardly older than mine.”</p><p>“Maybe, but my bones <em>are</em> older than our leaders!” Patchpelt joked, “And don’t worry about our kits, I’m sure that you’ll raise them just fine. Even if I’m in the elders’ den, they won’t be without a father.”</p><p>“I suppose it’ll be easier to leave them with you if you aren’t on patrol all the time,” Goldenflower admitted.</p><p>“That’s not quite what I meant, I’m sure Tigerclaw would make a great father too,” Patchpelt replied easily.</p><p>“Tigerclaw? What- what makes you think he could replace you as our kits’ father?” She spluttered.</p><p>Tigerclaw’s ears folded back when he heard what Goldenflower said, <em>I wouldn’t make</em> that <em>bad of a father... Right?</em></p><p>Patchpelt chortled, “He’s been padding after you since he was an apprentice! Surely you’ve noticed?”</p><p>“I thought that was just a kit-crush! He doesn’t still feel that way, does he?” Goldenflower protested.</p><p>“Would it be so bad if he did? He’ll be around for longer than I will, you should give him a chance.”</p><p>“... He was pretty concerned about the kits after I stayed out last night.”</p><p>“He was also pretty unhappy when he realized I didn’t tell you about my decision to become an elder.”</p><p>“How do you know?”</p><p>“Because he followed me here, he’s sitting outside the den right now.” Patchpelt mewed mischievously. “And I’d like you both to know that he has my blessing if you decide to pursue him instead, he’s quite the looker if you know what I mean.”</p><p>Tigerclaw rushed away from the den entrance, pelt burning as he heard Goldenflower’s sputtering and Patchpelt’s laughter fade away. Brindleface gave him an odd look as he shouldered his way into the warriors and flopped into his nest. When Longtail asked him what was wrong, Tigerclaw just covered his face with a paw and moaned in embarrassment. He ignored everyone’s attempt to talk to him and pretended to be asleep, even ignoring his own hunger as the day crept on.</p><p>Goldenflower eventually came in and sat in her brother’s nest next to Tigerclaw.</p><p>“Tigerclaw? Can we talk?”</p><p>Tigerclaw stayed silent, keeping his breathing steady. </p><p>“Don’t ignore me, you daft furball. I know you’re faking it, you’ve never been a good liar y’know, you couldn’t fake at something to save your pelt!”</p><p>“...”</p><p>“Fine, be that away. I just wanted you to know that I’m not mad that you were eavesdropping on my conversation with Patchpelt earlier, it’s actually kind of sweet that you wanted to make sure he apologized.”</p><p>Tigerclaw flicked an ear to show he was listening but made no sound to answer her, afraid of making the embarrassing situation worse.</p><p>“I also thought about what Patchpelt said, about... <em>You</em>... and being <em>mates</em>...”</p><p>Tigerclaw’s pelt heated up again and he pressed his face into his nest. <em>Is this how I get rejected? In my nest while failing to pretend to sleep?</em></p><p>“If you ever want to ah, talk about that, you’ll know where to find me, okay? I don’t think I’ll want kits for a while, not until these ones are apprenticed at least. But I’m not against the idea.”</p><p>Tigerclaw sat up in shock, “I uh, I don’t know if I’d be up for that either just yet,” he coughed.</p><p>“Oh, of course, I know that you’re still grieving. One step at a time, right?”</p><p>Tigerclaw nodded and leaned against Goldenflower in thanks, the silenced stretching between them.</p><p>“We should still talk though, make it official.”</p><p>Before Tigerclaw could answer, Lionheart suddenly popped his head into the den, “Neither of you will be making anything official in my nest!”</p><p>The pair broke apart, protesting and talk over each other about how that would obviously never happen, and how <em>dare</em> he even accuse them of-</p><p>Lionheart fell on his back purring in amusement, practically gasping for breath. Tigerclaw and Goldenflower shared a look and pounced on the golden-tom, claws sheathed, of course, their playfight eventually taking them back into the clearing.</p><p>Patchpelt sighed in relief, happy to see that Goldednflower and Tigerclaw were still on speaking terms, his kits would be in safe paws so long as Tigerclaw was there to protect them.<br/>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p><p>Tigerclaw had decided to take a quarter moon off from his duties, allowing Ravenpaw to tag along with Dustpaw and Sandpaw for training sessions. Now he was leading a small hunting patrol just beyond their borders. Darkstripe and Brindleface had paired off earlier which left Tigerclaw with...</p><p>“You’ve been avoiding talking to me, want to talk about it?”</p><p>Tigerclaw snorted and kept his nose to the ground, “Hardly, now be quiet, we’re supposed to be hunting, remember?”</p><p>His hunting partner sat down beside him with a loud huff, Tigerclaw’s eye twitched when he saw the water vole he had been tracking disappear into the ferns.</p><p>“Hard to hunt when my partner won’t communicate with me.”</p><p>“Then hunt by yourself and stop scaring off my catches.” He replied shortly, stalking away from the irritating white tom.</p><p>“Talk to me, we haven’t shared prey in ages. Just tell me what I did wrong!”</p><p>Tigerclaw stopped walking and flexed his claws into the dirt, taking a deep breath before facing the other tom.</p><p>“Why didn’t you stay for the vigil, Whitestorm? He was your father, you didn’t even say anything during the ceremony!”</p><p>“... Oh, is that it? Tigerclaw, you know that my father and I have never agreed on well... anything before.”</p><p>“So, what? You just forgot he was your kin?” Tigerclaw spat back.</p><p>Whitestorm’s pelt bristled, “Of course not! We had an argument not long ago and I was in shock, okay?”</p><p>“An argument is no reason to skip out on your father’s vigil!”</p><p>“I know that! I-” Whitestorm’s words were caught in his throat. “He asked me to join him in a raid on twolegplace, he wanted to attack kittypets in their nests! We haven’t had an issue with kittypets in moons, he told me himself he was just bored and wanted to fight someone!”</p><p>“Was he bored? Or was he trying to reach out to his only kin?”</p><p>“What are you talking about?”</p><p>Tigerclaw glared at his paws, trying not to let his emotions overwhelm him. “I think... I think Thistleclaw is dead because of me,” he whispered.</p><p>“... That’s a load of fox-dung. Thistleclaw is dead because-”</p><p>“Because we never noticed how much he was hurting.” Tigerclaw cut Whitestorm off. </p><p>“Why in Starclan’s name do you think that you’re to blame?”</p><p>Tigerclaw didn’t answer for a moment, instead staring up at the foliage in the trees.</p><p>“You know, Bluestar mentioned, back when she was Bluefur, that leaf-fall was Snowfur’s favorite season. Do you remember that?”</p><p>Whitestorm blinked sadly but smiled at the fond memories that came back to him, “I remember. The few times Snowfur left the nursery, she would come back with pretty leaves she found. You always ended up shredding them by accident.”</p><p>Tigerclaw purred, “I did, I felt bad every time too, but she also died in leaf-fall. Thistleclaw used to love leaf-fall <em>because</em> it was Snowfur’s favorite. Or at least that’s what my mother told me.”</p><p>Whitestorm frowned. “Thistleclaw has never been happy during leaf-fall, not that I can remember.</p><p>“And why do you think that is?”</p><p>It didn’t take Whitestorm long to puzzle it out, “You really think? After all this time...”</p><p>“He never once stopped thinking about her,” Tigerclaw affirmed, resting his tail on his friend’s shoulders. </p><p>“So what does any of that have to do with you blaming yourself for his death?” Whitestorm asked, back to the point of the matter.</p><p>“... He <em>indirectly</em> insulted Ravenpaw’s idea to keep our prey to fed. He said that ‘hare-brained ideas like that’ must run in Bluestar’s family, so I asked him if he thought Snowfur was hare-brained.”</p><p>Whitestorm let out a breath, “That... definitely crosses a line,” he agreed.</p><p>Tigerclaw immediately jumped to the defensive. “Of course <em>I</em> don’t think your mother was hare-brained! And I didn’t mean to upset him when I said it, I was more focused on Ravenpaw. I didn’t want Thistleclaw heckling him later about it, my apprentice gets enough of that from his denmates.”</p><p>“Peace, Tigerclaw. I know you didn’t mean it like that.”</p><p>“I just... Maybe if I hadn't said <em>that</em>, if I hadn't brought her up, he wouldn’t have felt the need to blow off steam by fighting with Riverclan.”</p><p>“And I should have realized he was trying to reconnect with me, even if it was in the only way he knew how.”</p><p>Tigerclaw stared up at the sky, even though it would be sometime before the sun would come out and reveal the stars, he found himself searching still. Whitestorm leaned against his shoulder and sighed.</p><p>“He may have been a grouch, but he was still our father.”</p><p>“<em>Our</em> father?”</p><p>Whitestorm shrugged, “We’ve been as close as brothers for as long as I can remember, and I know you looked up to him as a father figure after...”</p><p>“I get it, you don’t have to say it.”</p><p>“Sorry,”</p><p>“It’s fine, it's in the past now.”</p><p>The silence stretched between them for several heartbeats.</p><p>“Would you like to visit his grave before we return to camp? I saw some snow-drops we could leave for him.”</p><p>“I’d like that, thank you Whitestorm.”</p><p>“I owe him that much at least, I’m sorry for not being there.”</p><p>“It’s okay, I’m sure he understands.”<br/>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p><p>“I don’t understand."</p><p>It was nightfall by the time the two got back to camp with their catches, they stayed longer than they had meant to by Thistleclaw’s grave. Sharing memories they had of him, the good and the bad, like their own little vigil to make up for the one Whitestorm had missed</p><p>They didn’t expect to find two more bodies laid out for vigil</p><p>Patchpelt was crying silently next to his father’s body, Rosetail and Dappletail doing their best to comfort the new elder while One-eye washed the lavender into Adderfang's pelt to prep him for the night’s vigil</p><p>Bluestar was openly weeping next to Thrushpelt’s body, whispering over and over, wondering why Starclan had taken him as well. Lionheart and Goldenflower lay next to her, pressed up on either side to keep her steady</p><p>Spottedleaf ended up leading the vigil that night</p><p>Tigerclaw felt himself spiraling, was it their fault that the two elder’s died? If they had returned sooner, given the elder’s something to eat, would they have lived through leafbare.</p><p>Whitestorm bumped his head against Tigerclaw’s. “Hey, I know what you’re thinking. Don’t go blaming yourself for this, okay? Darkstripe and Brindleface got back long before us with fresh-kill, they may not have been able to keep it down anyway.</p><p>“So much death...”</p><p>“So much death,” Bluestar unknowingly echoed from her place next to Thrushpelt. “So many deaths in such a short amount of time, will Thunderclan even survive to see the end of leafbare? Could this be the end of us?”</p><p>“Don’t say that,” Redtail chided her. “We’ve faced worse, I know it looks bad but I promise we’ll make it out okay. We’ll see Thunderclan through to the golden ages yet, I just know it.”</p><p>“I pray to Starclan that you’re right, Redtail.”</p><p>“Of course I’m right, have I ever led you wrong before?”</p><p>“Forgive me Redtail, it’s been a hard moon for us all.”</p><p>The leader and deputy’s conversation faded out as Tigerclaw gouged deep scores into the earth beneath his paws. <em>Redtail.</em> How could he forget? That traitorous no good fox-heart!</p><p>Tigerclaw’s head shot up.</p><p>Redtail had been working with Shadowclan for moons, giving up their prey and Starclan knows what else! <em>Could Redtail be responsible for the food shortage?</em></p><p>If Redtail hadn’t been giving their prey to Shadowclan, those sick with green-cough would still be alive. Featherwhisker would be alive.</p><p>Robinwing and Fuzzypelt would be alive.</p><p>Adderfang would be alive.</p><p>Thrushpelt would be alive.</p><p>
  <em>Thistleclaw would still be alive.</em>
</p><p>Tigerclaw curled up tighter next to Whitestorm and Patchpelt, eyes squeezed shut in rage. All of this was Redtail’s fault, it had to be! </p><p>He wouldn’t wait to bring it up to Bluestar, he knew he’d sound mad if he tried. No, Tigerclaw would deal with Redtail <em>himself</em>.</p><p>No matter the cost.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Okay, now it's caught up with Tumblr! Please please please leave a comment, comments bring inspiration and inspiration means more updates.</p><p>I also just want to see what you guys think, this is the first series I've ever written for warriors :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter Six</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“-and your mentor shall be Lionheart.”</p>
<p>A fluffy gray kitten rushed forward to touch noses with the larger golden tom, garnering a few laughs from the crowd.</p>
<p>“Graypaw! Graypaw!” The clan cheered.</p>
<p>Tigerclaw’s paw’s itched as he called out the new apprentice’s name with the rest of the clan. He had been dropping hints to Redtail that they should try and retake Sunningrocks soon, he was counting on Redtail saying no so that when he went to ask Bluestar, he would be more convincing.</p>
<p>Not that his reasons were unfounded, he had a bone to pick with Riverclan. Two prey with one swipe, deal with Riverclan for murdering Thistleclaw and dealing with Redtail for being a traitor.</p>
<p>As the clearing emptied, cats going about their days, Tigerclaw hurried to follow Bluestar into her den, muttering an apology to Lionheart for ignoring his request to pair up their apprentices for the day. Graypaw and Ravenpaw could get to know each other later, Tigerclaw had more important things to do.</p>
<p>“Did you have something to say, Tigerclaw? Or do you plan on just standing there?”</p>
<p>Tigerclaw gave his pelt a shake and sat down, “My apologies, I was thinking.”</p>
<p>“About what? You don’t usually show up unannounced to share your everyday thoughts with me” Bluestar purred in amusement.</p>
<p>“We need to reclaim Sunning Rocks, and soon.” Tigerclaw replied seriously.</p>
<p>Bluestar sighed, “I know Tigerclaw, but newleaf is late this year. The prey pile is barely stocked most days and I just don’t think our warriors are ready for that, and after so much death already... I don’t think it’s worth the risk.”</p>
<p>Tigerclaw almost hissed, “Not worth the risk! Bluestar, you have to-”</p>
<p>“When newleaf sets in and Thunderclan has had a quarter-moon of full bellies, then we can reconsider extending our territory.”</p>
<p>“But Bluestar, this isn’t just about territory! A half-moon ago, I found Thistleclaw dead in the jaws of the Riverclan leader, they will see us as spineless cowards if we don’t retaliate over that!”</p>
<p>Bluestar fell silent, her gaze darkening. Tigerclaw wondered what she was thinking about when she abruptly stood up.</p>
<p>“Tigerclaw, you are dismissed. I need to speak with Redtail if you see him-”</p>
<p>“I’m right here, Bluestar.”</p>
<p>“Were you listening to our conversation?”</p>
<p>“No, I was going to let you know that our hunting patrols have had good hunting today, the kill-pile is almost fully stocked.” Redtail assured her.</p>
<p>“Good, in that case, Tigerclaw you may go. I’m sure Ravenpaw would appreciate some training with his mentor.”</p>
<p>Tigerclaw nodded and got to his paws, tuning out Redtail as he immediately began arguing against attacking Riverclan. Just as he was about to hop down the rocks, he heard Bluestar say something that gave him hope.</p>
<p>“Tigerclaw has made some good points, but I haven’t decided yet. I’m going to consult Starclan tomorrow.”</p>
<p>“Will you be taking any of the apprentices? They’re all at the right age and far enough along in their training.”</p>
<p>“... No. Relations with the other clans are testy enough as it is, I’ll be going alone this time.”</p>
<p>“It would be ill-advised to go without a guard, but I suppose you know best. May Starclan light your path.”</p>
<p>Tigerclaw nimbly hopped down the slope before they realized he was still listening and went to see if Ravenpaw had decided to make himself useful and clear out the elder’s bedding. When he finished with that, if he started at all, it wouldn’t hurt to go over some more battle moves, and maybe he’d take Dustpaw along as well.</p>
<p>It was just a little past sunrise, Whitestorm had offered to take Sandpaw and Dustpaw hunting, only to receive a swat to the ears from Spottedleaf over bringing the dusty brown apprentice. Never before had Tigerclaw seen Spottedleaf so adamant over something as trivial as hunting.</p>
<p><em>Well, I suppose that’s exactly the problem,</em> Tigerclaw mused to himself. During leafbare, hunting was anything <em>but</em> trivial. But he knew better than to disobey a medicine cat’s orders.</p>
<p>Ravenpaw was not in the elder’s den as Tigerclaw had hoped, instead he found Dustpaw showing Graypaw how to properly roll up the dirty bedding to be tossed out of the den. And it wasn’t going well.</p>
<p>“Like this?” Graypaw squealed as he pummeled the moss into the ground, successfully flattening the moss back into the bracken.</p>
<p>“I- no, Graypaw. Graypaw stop please, you’re just... <em>Graypaw stop!</em>” Dustpaw yowled as the moss went from being stuck to the ground to flying through the air. </p>
<p>Dappletail and Rosetail were snickering to themselves as Halftail and Smallear tried to get the old bedding out of their fur. Tigerclaw ducked as another scrap of bedding went flying straight towards his face. </p>
<p>“Graypaw, perhaps you should listen to your denmate when he’s trying to show you how to do something. Clean up this mess and do what Dustpaw tells you to do, <em>properly</em> this time.”</p>
<p>“Yes Tigerclaw,” Graypaw mewed, bowing his head in shame.</p>
<p>Soon, the mess was cleaned up and rolled out of the den. Dustpaw sighed as the last of the dirty bedding was disposed of behind the dirt-place, “Lionheart’s going to have a tough time with him, I hope Redtail never pairs us up for training!”</p>
<p>“Well, it’s a good thing Redtail is busy right now. I was going to find Ravenpaw to do some battle training, would you like to join us?”</p>
<p>“I’d love to, but Ravenpaw ran off to the medicine den right after the meeting. Maybe he has a bellyache or something.”</p>
<p>“Or something,” Tigerclaw sighed. “Get yourself something to eat while I go find Ravenpaw.”</p>
<p>Dustpaw brightened at the thought of being allowed to eat early and scurried out of the den, Tigerclaw turned to follow as he heard Graypaw call out.“Hey, wait a heartbeat! Dustpaw you haven’t shown me how to make a nest, what am I supposed to do now?”</p>
<p>Tigerclaw chuckled, “I suppose you’ll have to ask your mentor. I’m sure Lionheart will show you the best places to gather moss if you ask him now.”</p>
<p>While the gray kitten rushed to join Lionheart at the gorse tunnel, Tigerclaw made his way to the medicine den.</p>
<p>“Borage, chervil, rosemary, anything else?”</p>
<p>“Umm... Maybe lavender? And mint? I know you’ve gone through a lot of those given... everything that’s happened lately.”</p>
<p>“You’re right though, it doesn’t hurt to stock up. I’d also like to see if we can find any burnet. Grab those leaf-wraps and we’ll find Tigerclaw, I’ll let him know I need you for herb-gathering this morning.”</p>
<p>“You can have him until sunhigh,” Tigerclaw rumbled as he stepped into the den. “I’ll have Dustpaw brush up on his stalking techniques until then.”</p>
<p>Ravenpaw jumped, fur bristling in alarm while Spottedleaf just purred in gratitude as she brushed past him.</p>
<p>“Remember, sunhigh in the sandy clearing. Don’t be late Ravenpaw.” Tigerclaw said.</p>
<p>Ravenpaw nodded earnestly, “I’ll be there!”</p>
<p>“Ravenpaw, come on! We don’t have all day!” Spottedleaf called from the camp entrance.</p>
<p>Tigerclaw nosed his apprentice onwards, “You heard her, quicker you get this done the quicker you’ll be able to join Dustpaw and me for training.”</p>
<p>Ravenpaw sped off behind Spottedleaf just as Dustpaw finished licking his lips from his morning meal. “I’m ready to go Tigerclaw! Where’s Ravenpaw off to?”</p>
<p>“Spottedleaf asked for his help gathering herbs, he’ll be joining us at sunhigh.” Tigerclaw sighed.</p>
<p>Dustpaw scoffed, “Why is he always with Spottedleaf? Does he want to be a medicine cat or something?”</p>
<p>Tigerclaw gently batted at Dustpaw’s ears, “Spottedleaf could have asked any apprentice to help her today, would you rather it be you? There’s still time to catch up if you’d like.”</p>
<p>Dustpaw’s eyes went wide, “No way! I’d rather train, what are going to do today?”</p>
<p>Tigerclaw headed for the entrance, Dustpaw hurrying along at his heels. </p>
<p>“Stalking techniques, you’ve grown enough that Spottedleaf can’t keep you from hunting anymore. Time to brush up on those skills of yours.”</p>
<p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p>
<p>Two days passed by in a breeze, Tigerclaw oversaw Sandpaw’s hunting assessment that she should have taken with her denmates a moon ago while Redtail and Lionheart showed Graypaw the borders with Dustpaw, much to the older apprentice’s dismay.</p>
<p>Spottedleaf decided to borrow Ravenpaw the next day as well for herb gathering, Tigerclaw begrudgingly allowed it, remembering his promise to Ravenpaw all those moons ago. If his apprentice was determined to follow the path of a medicine cat, Tigerclaw wouldn’t stand in his way.</p>
<p>Redtail had taken Ravenpaw night hunting, as he had also promised to meet Bluestar at Four Trees for her return journey from the Moonstone.</p>
<p>The leader and deputy stumbled into camp just before moonhigh, Redtail carrying a small squirrel, Tigerclaw nodded to them as they passed him on guard duty.</p>
<p>“Tigerclaw, good to see you still awake. Go ahead and wake up Willowpelt and have her replace you. Get some sleep, I want you ready for the sunhigh patrol.” Redtail said, briefly leaving his tail on Tigerclaw’s shoulder.</p>
<p>Tigerclaw nodded and stood up, stretching his muscles and shaking his fur out, “I’ll help Ravenpaw carry in his catches, then I’ll head to sleep.”</p>
<p>Redtail shook his head, voice barely concealing his nervousness when he replied to Tigerclaw. “That won’t be necessary, Ravenpaw is just behind us with the rest. He did well for hunting at night during leafbare, Bluestar and I will share this squirrel while we discuss her visit to the Moonstone.”</p>
<p>As the duo left him at his post to talk about Bluestar’s trip, Ravenpaw made his way into camp carrying only a vole and a sparrow to show for his efforts.</p>
<p>Tigerclaw was too tired to comment on what little his apprentice managed to catch and let him pass without a word. But as Ravenpaw passed his mentor, Tigerclaw caught a whiff of the heavy scent of ferns, as if he had rolled in a patch recently.</p>
<p>Curious, Tigerclaw opened his jaws to try and taste the scent better, but to his dismay, the senior warrior found the unmistakable scent of marshes and pines on his apprentice’s pelt.</p>
<p>Exactly what he had noticed on Redtail as he passed by with Bluestar.</p>
<p>Redtail had been no surprise, given his recent activities. <em>But why Ravenpaw? Had he gotten too close to the border again? Why had Redtail even taken such an interest in Ravenpaw recently?</em></p>
<p>Tigerclaw shook his head, he had no reason to doubt Ravenpaw’s loyalty to his clan. Maybe Redtail had been meeting with Shadowclan again and Ravenpaw decided to follow him, he’d ask about it in the morning.</p>
<p>As Tigerclaw made his way to the warrior’s den, he caught the tail-end of Redtail and Bluestar’s conversation.</p>
<p>“So, did Starclan share the wisdom that you sought?”</p>
<p>“Yes and no, I cannot tell you what exactly we spoke of but I can say this. I found exactly what I thought I would and dealt with it accordingly. We’ll be taking back Sunningrocks tomorrow after sunhigh.”</p>
<p>“Very well Bluestar, I trust you and Starclan’s judgment. Goodnight.”</p>
<p>Gleefully, Tigerclaw hurried into his den, prodding Willowpelt awake so that she could take his place as guard.</p>
<p><em>Don’t worry Thistleclaw,</em> Tigerclaw thought to himself. <em>You will be avenged, may your spirit rest easy among the stars tonight.</em></p>
<p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p>
<p>
  <em>“Thistleclaw, these aren’t Starclan’s hunting grounds. Why are you here?” Tigerclaw asked.</em>
</p>
<p>Tigerclaw’s dreams took him to a familiar place, though he didn’t expect to find Thistleclaw here. The Place of No Stars was where those who irrefutably broke the code were sentenced. Many of its inhabitants hoped to redeem themselves by training their more vulnerable living clanmates in their dreams and told their stories to keep the living from following in their pawsteps.</p>
<p>Tigerclaw was one of those cats, he had been so angry for so long when his father chose to become a kittypet rather than continuing to lead his clan. Mapleshade came to him in a dream, sympathetic and kind, her story was a gruesome one, but Tigerclaw decided that she was truly strong for the decisions she had to make.</p>
<p>He had heard her story before, but from Thunderclan’s elders instead. The elder’s version of the story depicted her as some lying she-cat who cruelly mocked her dead mate’s memory by having kits with his murderer, who then proceeded to kill that tom’s sister and her medicine cat before dying to the claws of a Riverclan apprentice. She was also rumored to have purposefully drowned her own kits upon her exile, using that as an excuse for her killing-spree.</p>
<p>Mapleshade’s story was different, her side was that she had never loved that Thunderclan tom but saw him as a good friend, her mate (who he learned was called Appledusk) hadn’t meant to kill him or the apprentice and was incredibly remorseful for what he did.</p>
<p>Personally, he thought it was Ravenwing’s fault (the medicine cat at the time) for all that followed. If he hadn't told the clan of those kit’s half-clan heritage, Mapleshade wouldn’t have been so driven to get them across the river.</p>
<p>Her exile was a quick one, Mapleshade confessed that she feared that if she had been caught by a Thunderclan patrol still on their territory because she was trying to get to the Twoleg Bridge with three young kits, they would have killed them all.  To her, she had to cross the river as soon as possible to give her kits a chance at life. It was nothing short of bad luck that things happened the way they did.</p>
<p>If Ravenwing hadn’t told the clan, the kits may not have died and been raised as loyal Thunderclan warriors, never knowing they were any different from their clanmates.</p>
<p>If Frecklewish had acted and tried to save the kits instead of assuming the Riverclan patrol would intervene, the kits may have been accepted into Riverclan, with or without their mother. But at least they would have been safe.</p>
<p>Mapleshade did not try to defend herself for the murder of those two queens, or attempted in Reedshine’s case, the molly who Appledusk took as a mate to save his own pelt after meeting with Mapleshade. And even though killing a medicine cat was considered one of the worst offenses to the warrior code, Mapleshade couldn’t bring herself to feel guilty for that. And Tigerclaw didn’t blame her.</p>
<p>Mapleshade would eventually fade away in the Dark Forest, no matter how long she repented if she could not feel the guilt for killing Ravenwing, Starclan would never let her into their hunting grounds. Though they were at least kind enough to allow her to see her kits at the border. A small mercy if there ever was one.</p>
<p>But it wasn’t Mapleshade who stood before him tonight, it was Thistleclaw.</p>
<p>
  <em>“I used to be in Starclan,” Thistleclaw rasped.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“I was at peace, sitting with my mother, father, and dear sister when she came along and ruined it.” Thistleclaw spat.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“She?” Tigerclaw echoed, confused.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Bluestar,” The spiky-furred warrior growled. “Bluestar came and questioned Starclan about why I was there, then she had the nerve to chase me out!”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“I don’t understand, I know you two never got along but-”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“It was more than that, Tigerclaw. She was always jealous of me, for loving her sister when she couldn’t, for being more respected than her when she moped around the camp while I actually did something.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Grief can make-”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Grief should never stand in the way of a warrior providing for their clan, I taught you that. The only reason Sunstar chose her over me was that she shared his soft-hearted ideals.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Why can’t you just go back? If Starclan granted you access the first time then surely you’d be able to cross the border now?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“It would seem that Bluestar managed to convince Starclan otherwise, I can longer find the border, not even to see my mate.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Tigerclaw winced, it was when he spoke of Snowfur that led to Thistleclaw’s death.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“I know that look, it’s not your fault.” Thistleclaw said gruffly, “I’ll give Bluestar this though, she was always crafty. She preferred peace to fighting and has never been afraid of using dirty tactics to get there, she must have learned that from Pinestar.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Tigerclaw growled softly at the mention of his father, everyone always said he was wise and deserved respect, but all Tigerclaw saw was a coward who ran from his problems, and would sooner let another cat die than put himself in harm’s way.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“I don’t understand though,” he protested. “Bluestar went to Starclan after I demanded she avenges you. Why would she consult Starclan to drive you out, but avenge you tomorrow?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Like I said, she’s crafty.” Thistleclaw replied shortly. “She hates me, always has. She wanted to ensure I’d never find peace before attacking Riverclan to save face.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Otherwise she risks Riverclan taking more of our territory,” Tigerclaw finished. “I just...”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Nevermind that, what’s done is done. I learned something while I was in Starclan though, I don’t know all the details but there’s something you need to know.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“What is it? Is there danger coming?” Tigerclaw asked. His mind was spinning, it was bad enough that his leader was so... So petty that she would drive a loyal warrior from his resting place, but now there was more potential danger? <em> <strong>Didn’t Thunderclan have enough problems thanks to Redtail? </strong> </em></em>
</p>
<p>    
    <em>“Fire is coming Tigerclaw, an all-consuming blaze that will destroy-”</em>
</p>
<p>
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
</p>
<p>
 “Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the Highrock for a clan meeting!” Came the piercing voice from beyond his dreams.
</p>
<p>
  Tigerclaw’s head shot up, still blinking the sleep out of his eyes as the other warriors filed out of the den.
</p>
<p>
  “What’s going on?” he asked Whitestorm as the white warrior brushed past him.
</p>
<p>
  “Bluestar’s called a meeting, not sure why,” Whitestorm grumbled.
</p>
<p>
 Tigerclaw sighed and stood up, squinting at the dawn light that hit his eyes as he left the den. Bluestar stood on the Highrock, patiently waiting for the clan to assemble in the clearing. Redtail sat beneath the rock, looking remarkably well-rested for someone who had been up half the night like Tigerclaw was.
</p>
<p>
  The apprentices’ den shook as the four young cats rushed out for the meeting, Graypaw was the only one who looked energetic enough to be there. The others were stifling yawns and leaning against each other so they wouldn’t fall asleep on their paws.
</p>
<p>
  “As some of you may know, I went to consult Starclan yesterday seeking their wisdom. I have received their blessing to carry out an attack on Riverclan to reclaim Sunningrocks!”
</p>
<p>
 Murmurs rose up from the crowd, some were worried that they weren’t strong enough yet while others, mostly the younger warriors, were flexing their claws in anticipation to see some action.
</p>
<p>
  “I understand your concerns, but remember! You aren’t just fighting for territory, you are fighting to avenge your clanmates who starved in their sicknesses when we couldn’t find enough food! You fight for the queens and their kits to ensure their futures and for the elders who we swore to take care of for the rest of their days!”
</p>
<p>
  Tigerclaw leveled a challenging glare at Bluestar, he knew what she did at the moonstone but that didn’t mean he’d let her stop pretending that this was about Riverclan’s act of war. She met his gaze and nodded to him.
</p>
<p>
  “And just as importantly, we fight to avenge Thistleclaw, who was found dead in the jaws of Crookedstar himself! We took our time recuperating from the harshness of leafbare, but now is the time to strike! For Thunderclan!”
</p>
<p>
  “Thunderclan! Thunderclan!” Came the cheers in the clearing. The other warriors looked to be on board now, eyes shining with grief and determination as they thought of their lost clanmates.
</p>
<p>
  Bluestar nodded to her deputy, “Redtail shall announce the battle patrol, anyone not going must be ready to be sent out as reinforcements. Dismissed!”
</p>
<p>
  With a wave of her tail, Bluestar headed back to her den, content to allow Redtail to finish the preparations. 
</p>
<p>
  “Darkstripe, Runningwind, Mousefur, and Tigerclaw! We’ll be heading out immediately. Whitestorm and Lionheart, you’ll be on standby with the apprentices- Not Graypaw though, he’s too young.”
</p>
<p>
  Graypaw rolled his eyes and huffed, Sandpaw cuffed him around the ears and hissed something at him. The fluffy young apprentice pinned his ears back and went back to his nest, hopefully, Lionheart would give him something to do.
</p>
<p>
  Tigerclaw growled softly as he followed Redtail through the gorse tunnel, <em>One thing at a time,</em> he told himself. <em>Riverclan first, then you can deal with the traitor.</em>
</p>
<p>
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
</p>
<p>
  Tigerclaw stifled a growl as Spottedleaf tended to his wounds, Mousefur was curled up in a nest near the back of the den, as she was the most injured Spottedleaf decided she’d have to stay until she recovered.
</p>
<p>
  Redtail had called for a retreat as soon as the Riverclan reinforcements arrived, Tigerclaw knew that with Mousefur so injured they wouldn’t have been able to send for their own patrols on standby and hold off the oncoming warriors as well.
</p>
<p>
  Be that as it may, even Riverclan had been surprised to win so easily, they were obviously prepared to defend the rocks.
</p>
<p>
  Bluestar even managed to look disappointed, but she attributed it to Thunderclan’s unusually small numbers. Without enough warriors to defend their borders, it made sense that they lost this battle.
</p>
<p>
  “Peace, Tigerclaw,” the old leader sighed. “Perhaps when our apprentices have their warrior ceremonies, we’ll be ready to reclaim our territory.”
</p>
<p>
  Tigerclaw nodded stiffly and shouldered his way out of camp, maybe he could relieve some of this stress by doing some hunting. It would be a while until sunset, but he needed something to keep his claws busy, which meant no training with Ravenpaw for the time being.
</p>
<p>
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
</p>
<p>
  The stars were just lighting the sky as he made his way back, carrying a small load of prey for the queens to enjoy. He stopped in the gorse tunnel when he heard voices, Bluestar and Spottedleaf were speaking.
</p>
<p>
  “-Thunderclan has not been beaten in its own territory since I became leader,” She murmured.
</p>
<p>
  “These are difficult times for our Clan. The season of newleaf is late, and there have been fewer kits. Thunderclan needs more warriors if it is to survive.”
</p>
<p>
  “But the year is only just beginning,” Spottedleaf pointed out calmly. “There will be more kits when greenleaf comes.”
</p>
<p>
  Tigerclaw carefully backed out of the camp entrance, straining to still hear what the two were talking about while remaining undetected.
</p>
<p>
  “Perhaps. But training our young to become warriors takes time. If Thunderclan is to defend its territory, it must have new warriors as soon as possible.”
</p>
<p>
  “Are you asking Starclan for answers?” Came Spottedleaf’s gentle mew.
</p>
<p>
  Tigerclaw glanced up at the stars, for all Spottedleaf knew, Bluestar had already done that.
</p>
<p>
  “It is at times like this we need the words of the ancient warriors to help us. Has Starclan spoken to you?”
</p>
<p>
  “Not for some moons, Bluestar.”
</p>
<p>
  Suddenly, a shooting star blazed through the sky, Tigerclaw’s fur bristled as Thistleclaw’s words rang in his ears.
</p>
<p>

    <em> <strong>Fire is coming, an all consuming blaze that will destroy- </strong> </em>

</p>
<p>
 “-from Starclan. Fire alone can save our clan.”
</p>
<p>
  <em>Save? Thistleclaw said it would destroy us! Why would his message be different from Spottedleaf’s?</em> Tigerclaw was broken from his inner turmoil when he heard Bluestar stand up and shake out her fur.
</p>
<p>
 “If Starclan has spoken then it must be so. Fire will save our clan.”
</p>
<p>
  The senior warrior stayed still for a long time as he waited for the coast to become clear, Tigerclaw tried to reason out what the prophecy could possibly mean but he came up with nothing.
</p>
<p>
  Groaning as he stretched his now stiff muscles, Tigerclaw decided that this new omen would just have to be another thing on his list to deal with. First, he had to focus on taking back Sunningrocks for Thistleclaw, then he’d deal with Redtail.
</p>
<p>
Who knows? Maybe this fire could help him in his mission, Thunderclan seemed to be getting further and further from the noble clan he once knew it to be.
</p>
<p>
  But as long as he knew the truth, nothing would stop him from bringing peace to his clan.
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>And scene! I wanted to include Redtail’s death scene but this was getting too long as it is, that whole kerfuffle deserves its own chapter anyway.</p>
<p>Yes, I know that the ‘Bluestar chasing Thistleclaw out of Starclan’ thing is as canon as Jake being hit by a meteorite, but I decided to include it because of my overall HC for Starclan being that Starclan is stupid and very often wrong.</p>
<p>Plus, as a plot point, this helps Tigerclaw cement the idea that Bluestar is a bad leader into his mind for later ;)</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Cross-posted from my tumblr (same name), hoping it'll get some traction here as well! Don't forget to leave a kudos and a comment! </p><p>Next update will be on Wednesday, though you can check it out on tumblr where it already has five chapters. Ao3 chapters will be released at a slower rate so that I can keep some in the bank until the series is finished :)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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